50 Ways to Kill an Ordinary
by Dark Roswellian Angel
Summary: Max starts having some seriously disturbing dreams- only does she really find them that disturbing? How do they affect her feelings for the men in her life?
1. Funky Whacked Dreams

Title: 50 Ways to Kill an Ordinary

Author: Dark Roswellian Angel

Elizabeth McDowell

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did, "Dark Angel" would still be airing, and Jensen Ackles would have been in every episode. And Logan... Logan who?

Copying/Downloading/Posting: Please let me know first, and let me know where my work will be posted as I would love to come visit it. Make sure that it is put under my name, as I would love to hear how others feel about it. Thanks ;)

Rating: T for now, may increase to M later.

Synopsis: Max starts having some seriously disturbing dreams- only does she really find them that disturbing? How do they affect her feelings for the men in her life?

A/N: In case the title and disclaimer didn't make it obvious, don't expect this to be too nice to Logan :) But please keep in mind that this is meant to be just for fun. After all, they're only dreams, right???

**Funky Whacked Dreams**

One morning, an extremely tired looking Max came out of her bedroom yawning.

"You aiight, boo?" Cindy asked looking up from the coffee she was just about to drink.

"No… yeah…," Max shook her head to clear it but couldn't shake the discomfited look from her face. When Cindy gave her a look, she answered, "Yeah. I'll be fine. Just had some weird dreams."

Cindy's look became sympathetic. Max had shared some of her nightmares in the past, and they were major doozies. And to think they were based on experiences Max had actually lived through. Sometimes her boo's life was just plain mys-ti-fyin'. How she could have gone through all that and be the fine, upstandin' female she was- it was amazin'. It just went to prove how all-powerful good Max was on the inside that she could overcome all that craziness. "Nightmares, huh?"

"No… yeah… no." She looked at Cindy and saw she was getting the same look again. "Not really nightmares. Just weird dreams. But… they weren't really all that... disfavorable, I guess you'd say."

"Okay, shugga, you gonna have to break it down for me, 'cause you got me all kinds of confused now."

"I kind of killed Logan."

"What? What do you mean you _kinda _killed Logan? You do mean in yo dreams, right? You didn't go on touchin' him or nothin'?"

"No, I didn't touch him. I just kind of _accidentally _killed him in my dreams last night."

"And just what does that mean? How did you _accidentally_ kill yo boy?"

"I kind of pushed his head through a meat slicer," Max said, ending her statement with a questioning tone while shrugging her shoulders.

"Uh- what?" Cindy couldn't even begin to believe what her ears were tellin' her they were hearin'.

Max couldn't meet the other girl's eyes. She couldn't even begin to believe that she'd had the dream she'd had. What the hell was wrong with her? Were her Frankenstein genes finally making her whack? Was she losing it? Like Ben? Was she going to go postal and slice and dice all that she held near and dear? Was this how her reign of terror and mayhem started?

"Earth to Max. Original Cindy's thinking that she must've misheard her girl, 'cause there just ain't no way that you just said what she's thinking you did." When Max didn't respond. "Okay, that's some serious screwage. Maybe you ought to just tell me the whole story."

"Well, he invited me out to dinner. But then instead of letting me eat, he took me to this store and started going on and on and on about some mission that Eyes Only wants me to go on. So, I started getting real hungry, and I realized it was a butcher's shop, so I decided I was going to slice myself a sandwich. Only… I got a little confused."

"Yikes. That's some serious mix-up, shugga." Original Cindy sat staring at Max, who was obviously still bothered by something else. "Okay, fess up, what else?"

Max looked at her, obviously trying to decide if she was going to admit the rest. Then she seemed to make up her mind. "Well, as I was cutting up Logan, Alec came in and asked what I was doing. I told him I was having a sandwich, and then I looked at Logan and realized what I had done. I was really upset and started crying, so Alec came around the corner and started rubbing my back. Well, that felt really good, so I started cuddling with him. And then… we wound up doing it on the counter in the butcher's shop."

To Original Cindy's credit, she was able to take this information in with only a couple of blinks. "Huh. So how was Hot Boy?"

Max smiled, whether from relief that Original Cindy wasn't going to press any further and seemed okay with her dream and didn't think she was going crazy or from remembering the rest of her dream, neither one was entirely sure, "He was pretty good."

"Well, aiight, then, we best get goin', boo. We gonna be late for work again, and Normal's gonna have yo head." With that, OC picked up her bag from the counter and walked to the door.

With a smile, Max picked up her bag and followed her.

Half an hour later, they were at Jam Pony just about to leave to run their separate packages to sectors 5 and 8 when Max looked up and immediately looked away from the male walking down the ramp. Trying desperately to look anywhere but at him, she turned to OC only to catch her friend looking at her with a big smile on her face. "You gonna haveta face him sooner or later, boo."

In response, Max looked back at the swaggering young man with the devilishly handsome smirk plastered across his face. "Later."

"Hey, Maxie, how's it goin'?"

She tried to ignore how smooth his voice was, and how her mind immediately responded by dragging up visuals of the more pleasant parts of last night's dreams. Instead, she forced a dirty look on her face, looked at him dismissively, and walked past him without a word.

"Great. Just great. And just what have I done this time?" Alec muttered to himself, not expecting an answer. But he got one anyway.

"Don't worry about it, man. Max's just havin' some problems dealin' with the real."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Meanin' she had some epic dreams last night and is tryin' to wrap her head around them." Cindy walked past him, effectively ending the conversation.

_Hmmm, Max is having dreams about me, huh? Niiiice_, Alec thought with a more natural smile replacing his normal smirk.

Several hours later, Max was over at Logan's house. He had called up and invited her to enjoy some steak with him, but when she got there, he had been working on the computer. He turned to her with his little-boy-excited smile and began telling her about how he had worked through his network of informants to find one who was willing to rat out a minister who had been partaking a little too much of the communal wine. "So, then I talked to this guy who once worked for a magazine that had run this article on…"

_Sloosh-sloosh-sloosh-sloosh._ Max tried to hide the little smile that crossed her face at the remembered sound by wiping her hair behind her ear. She tried to refocus on what Logan was saying.

"… and of course, he told me that she had once denied saying that she knew him…"

_Sloosh-sloosh-sloosh-sloosh. _Max's eyebrows rose as she remembered again the more pleasant activities that she had engaged in soon after she'd finished with the machine, but she quickly turned her mind back to what Logan was saying.

_Sloosh-sloosh-sloosh-sloosh. Man, I am really hungry. I wonder how much longer this is going to take. It's not like this is actually going anywhere- not even a mission is going to come out of this one. I wonder if it would be rude for me to start eating while he's still talking. But I'm not really in the mood for steak. What do I want?_ Max didn't even notice that her face was twisting into a clear look of confusion. Logan just kept going, believing that his story was so amazing that she was becoming astounded. _Meat. Definitely meat. Maybe... a sandwich? Yeah... that sounds real good. A cold-cut sandwich, heavy on the meat. _When she began to lick her lips, Logan became completely distracted but tried to continue with his story. She looked down at Logan and realized he was still talking about how he met his prize-of-the-night informant. "Hey, sorry, I gotta blaze."

As she immediately got up and walked out shouting out a, "See ya later," Logan looked up at her back dumbfounded. _What just happened?_


	2. Wet Dreams

Title: 50 Ways to Kill an Ordinary

Author: Dark Roswellian Angel

Elizabeth McDowell

Rating: T for now, may increase to M later.

Synopsis: Max starts having some seriously disturbing dreams- only does she really find them that disturbing? How do they affect her feelings for the men in her life?

Copying/Downloading/Posting: Please let me know first, and let me know where my work will be posted as I would love to come visit it. Make sure that it is put under my name, as I would love to hear how others feel about it. Thanks ;)

A/N: In case the title and disclaimer don't make it obvious, don't expect this to be too nice to Logan :) But please keep in mind that this is meant to be just for fun. After all, they're only dreams, right??

2nd A/N: I have to apologize that it's taken me so long to update this fic. I plan to try to update every week, but my Internet access went down the weekend before St. Patty's Day just after I posted (on the 14th), and I had limited access to computers at all until this week. Hopefully, I'll be able to update more frequently from now on.

3rd A/N: I also have to give a great big thank you to everybody who reviewed the first chapter of this fic. Thank you to Lily Witchcraft, happycabbage75, Crogos, Willow-98, p3karen, chance32, darkaznangel452, purplebunnywabbit, alex1156, and 452max. Getting reviews is so much fun- I can definitely understand how people can become review-junkies :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did, "Dark Angel" would still be airing, and Jensen Ackles would have been in every episode. And Logan... Logan who?

I do however own the following poem :)

Ode to Alec

I love him, I love him, I love him so much;

If he were on sale, I'd buy me a bunch.

(thank you, thank you, thank you (for putting up with me)- bows and curtsies all around)

Now, on with the show

* * *

**Wet Dreams**

It was around 8 A.M., and OC had just woken up. She knew she was going to have to hurry because "the man" was expecting her to come in early. Why, she had no idea. Why on earth that "bip-bip" man would ever expect any of his employees to go beyond was totally beyond her. The only ones they'd even consider going above the expected for would be extremely rich and generous customers (as if) and even then half of them would be more likely to behave only to see what they could rip off. Still, she had agreed to come in early, so she figured she ought to at least show up within 15 minutes of her scheduled time.

As she walked into the bathroom, though, she found the first hiccup in her day's plans. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, still wearing her bathrobe, sat Max. She was staring morosely down at the toilet, watching the water swirl around and around as she flushed it repeatedly. She approached her friend cautiously, "Hey, Boo. How's it hangin'?" When Max made no movement to show that she'd heard her, OC came a little closer and put her hand on the gen's shoulder. "You okay, shugga?" As she gently shook the other girl's shoulder, Max slowly looked up at her and blinked as though she were coming out of deep thought.

"Wha-? No… yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just…"

"Don't even tell me. Weird dreams again, Boo?" OC wasn't sure if she felt more trepidation or curiosity. The past had taught her to worry about Max's dreams, but yesterday's revelations had proven more interesting than worrisome. Was it possible that she'd had more dreams like those? She smiled a little as Max hung her head and nodded. "So what was they this time?" Max looked at her for just a second and then looked away. "Logan again?" Another nod. "How'd he fare this time?" No answer. "Well, Baby Doll, maybe you ought to just lay it all on Original Cindy. It won't do you no good keepin' it all to yo'self." She watched as the younger girl seemed to deliberate, then was grateful when Max looked up at her. Clearly she was in a sharin' mood.

"I killed him. Again, Original Cindy."

"So I gathered." She carefully kept her tone noncommittal, not wanting her best friend to feel as though she were about to judge her.

"What's wrong with me, OC? Why do I keep dreamin' like this?" Max's insecurities were obviously boiling very near the surface.

"Look here, chica, there ain't nothin' wrong with you that a good time wouldn't fix. And lately, you just ain't been havin' that. All yo' time and energy has been on work, or White, or this virus thang, or tryin' to take care o' yo' peeps, and it's just been stressin' you out. That's all these dreams are- just yo' mind lettin' all the tension out. There's nothin' wrong with you, Boo." She put all the confidence into her voice that she could pull together. She knew that her boo was goin' through somethin', and it wasn't likely that just a good time was gonna fix it, but she still had complete faith in her that she was a good person, well semi-person, and she wasn't just gonna stand by and let Max start doubtin' herself. "So, what was it this time? How'd you off him? Same way as last time?" She was surprised when Max actually smiled to herself.

"No. Not exactly."

"Okay, well, now you just gotta share. Be generous with a sista'."

"Well, he kind of drowned."

"Oh, yeah? And how's that?"

"Well, I kind of held his head in a toilet bowl for too long."

"Too long? Just how long exactly is holdin' yo' boy's head in a toilet not considered too long?"

"It wasn't like that."

"And just how exactly was it?"

"Well, we were talking, and he was explaining how he used to be this amazing swimmer when he was younger. I made the mistake of describing how when we were young, our trainers wanted us to develop our lung capacity. So, they would put these chains on us that were connected to the floor in this little empty pool kind of area, then they would fill up the pool with water, and set their timers for however long they thought we should be able to handle. When their little clocks went off, they would release the clamps holding the chains, and we'd be able to swim to the surface to breathe."

"Damn, girl, that is straight up messed up."

"Yeah, well. You do what you gotta do, right? So, anyway, I told Logan all of this, and he asked me how long I could hold my breath. Well, my time was just under 5 minutes without struggling with the restraints, and he seemed okay with that. But I made the mistake of saying that, since he'd been trained longer than I had, Alec could hold out for over 8 minutes, and that just set Logan off."

"Wow. So is those times for true?"

"Well, yeah."

"So, Alec can actually hold his breath for that long. That must make him an amazing kisser. No wonder all those honeys crave him like they do. Hard to compete with a guy who doesn't have to come up for air."

Max gave her a strange look, then continued, "So, anyway, he claimed that he could hold it for just as long as Alec could. And he wouldn't let it go. He kept badgering me with it until finally I decided to finish his one-sided argument. I suggested that he demonstrate what he could do. He seemed a little worried, so I suggested that he do it in the toilet- that way he could easily pull himself out if he needed to. The suggestion that he might need to pull himself out before the time was up kind of seemed to piss him off, but he agreed to stick his head in the toilet. The thing is, just before he went in, he told me that he would need my help getting in the correct position. Then he said that if he failed it would be my fault for not helping him keep his head in there. Well, I wanted to make sure that he succeeded, so I made sure that he kept his head fully submerged for over 9 minutes. Then, when I pulled him out, I found out that he hadn't actually achieved his goal."

"Wow. Talk about an ego gone bad."

"Yeah."

OC noticed that Max still seemed to be holding back. "Yeah, and then what?"

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me, girl. Spill."

Max shrugged her shoulders and her eyes dropped to the floor. "Well, I was cryin' over Logan's body, and then Alec walked in."

OC's eyebrows shot up. _Again?_

"He explained to me that it really wasn't my fault that Logan had felt the need to try to prove that he was more of a man than he actually was. Then we climbed into the bathtub 'cause it was suddenly full of bubblebath and there were a ton of lit candles all over the room, and we did it. _Twice_."

OC didn't miss the secretive smile the other girl had. "Is that significant in some way?"

Max's smile broadened slightly. "Yeah. Kind of. That's how many times Alec told Renfro, you remember- our director at Manticore, that we had copulated."

"So, you's basically havin' Manticore-related visions o' what mighta been, huh, girl? (no answer, but her smile dimmed) Can't say as I blame you. If I'da had a chance to get with Mr. Atten'hut and I played that way, I'd totally dream about it, too."

Max's smile broadened again. "So, you don't think I'm crazy?"

"For the last time, Boo, I know you. And I know you ain't goin' all crazy on me. I'll let you know if you ever need ta start worryin', aiight?" She put her arm around the taller girl's shoulders. "Now, if you don't mind, I gotta get ready for work. I musta' been on somethin' when I said I'd come in early. (She saw Max's eyebrows raise.) Don't even ask." She ushered her best friend out of the small room, closed the door, and leaned against it. _Whoa. This is just gettin' freaky._

Two hours later Max walked into her place of business. She had decided not to worry about the dreams. After all, OC was right- she was under a lot of stress. Maybe this really was just about relieving it. She looked over and waved at her girl, giving her a big everything's-okay smile. She started walking over to her, but when she saw who OC had been talking to, her smile faltered.

It was one thing to dream about him; it was another to see him in person. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that her dreams were entirely stress-based and had no actual connection to her real life, there was just no denying how amazingly good-looking he was. If she were to be honest with herself, she'd have to admit he was the most gorgeous man she'd ever met. For some reason, that even included Ben in the comparison. _Maybe that's because he's even more gorgeous on the inside than he is on the out._ Whoa! Where had _that_ come from? _Still, though, you know it's true. _Her smile returned as she continued walking towards him, forgetting that she had actually meant to walk towards OC. She was just about to ask him how long he could actually hold his breath when, without even realizing what she was doing, her feet took a sudden turn immediately rushing her away from the object of her thoughts. She looked over her shoulder and saw a look of confusion adorning his handsome features. She wondered if she wore a mirroring look.

After spending the rest of the day pointedly ignoring and avoiding her ex-breeding partner, Max felt exhausted. She came home and started putting together a nice bubblebath. After all, in all the world, there was nothing else that could relax her as completely. She was just about ready to dip herself in the warm suds when part of her dream flashed through her mind. She sank into the smooth liquid as she subconsciously allowed her mind to relive her thoughts in detail. She wasn't even aware of the smile that graced her features as she closed her eyes.

When the phone rang half an hour later, she was still lost in her previous night's dreams. A scowl crossed her features as she wondered who could be interrupting her relaxation. When her pager went off a few seconds later, she was able to successfully guess. Without even calling back, she got out of the water, tension immediately landing on her as she left its comfort, and began to get ready to go over to his house. There were only two reasons that he might call this late- either he wanted her to come over to his place for dinner and figured that she was waiting next to her phone with nothing better to do, or he needed her for an EO mission. Either way, she knew he wouldn't be leaving her alone until she saw him and heard him out.

"So, I went over some of the schematics and came to the realization that it had to have something to do with the device I saw on the video. It must be affecting the quality of the water, which is why so many pipes have been rusting and bursting. And as I said, the rust is what is getting into the water and making so many people sick," he looked up, expecting the usual hero-worshipping look to be in her eyes, but she didn't even seem to be paying attention. Well, that just wouldn't do. After all, this water poisoning mission was one of his best, as far as he was concerned. A lot of people had been getting sick, and now he was going to fix it all. Yet again. In order to make sure she was paying attention to just how incredible he was at noticing details and putting together clues, he injected some humor, "Not to mention creating a holy terror of a ring around the toilet bowl."

_Huh? Toilets?_ Max had been daydreaming again. Just like last night, she was having a terrible time trying to focus on what her _boyfriend_ was telling her. She shook her head to try to bring him back into focus. "So, uh, what is it that you want me to do?"

"Max, are you even paying attention? I mean, for a genetically-enhanced mind, you seem to be having a hard time focusing. More like A.D.D. on steroids..."

As he droned on and on, Max tried to keep her face carefully neutral. She was getting used to all the digs he made- on her, on her family, on her DNA status. And, she knew he didn't really feel like that. In fact, if she had to guess, it was his own insecurities that made him say all that crap. Or maybe it was because of how he held himself to a higher moral standard than anyone else she knew. Either way, she knew she had to take the bad with the good if she wanted to be with him. Which she did. Right?

"You were saying?" she recognized the irony of having to bring him back to the topic when he was accusing her of lack of focus. Even though he was right.

"Yeah, so I need you to go down to the water plant and get that device out of the system. Hopefully without getting noticed."

"And just how do you propose I do that?"

"I don't know. With your multi-processing, brilliant mind, I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. Just make sure that you bring the device back with you, will you? I want a chance to take it apart and figure out just who planted it."

_So, he's not even going to offer me any dinner before I go? Whatever._ "Okay. So I guess I'll get going." Her eyebrows raised as he barely acknowledged her before turning back to the screen.

"I'll keep an eye on things from here. If I see anything, I'll let you know."

_For as much good as that does me._ "Yeah. Thanks. So, I guess I'll see you in a few hours."

"Yeah. Good luck, and Max…"

Expecting him to say something sweet about how much he cared about her, or how he wanted her to be careful, or how he worried about her, or even how much he hated sending her on these missions (even though she knew otherwise), Max replied, "Yeah?"

"Could you pick up some Chinese food on the way back? I've got a total yen for orange chicken."

Several hours later an extremely wet, miffed, and frustrated feline let herself into her lover's penthouse. She could see through the darkness that he had already gone to bed, not even bothering to wait up for her. _Humph. Figures. Sends me out to do the dirty work and gets a nice night's sleep for himself. _Unwilling to allow the reason that she'd just spent an incredibly miserable night out to sleep comfortably while she was still stuck in her wet clothes, she very loudly stomped around the apartment, turning on all the lights, opening and slamming his refrigerator, and as a final act of frustration turned on his stereo full blast. She was even considering turning it to a decent station instead of the crap he kept it on when she finally heard his tired stumbling behind her. As she turned around, she realized just how much she did not appreciate other people's response to her ragtag appearance. She raised her eyebrows, daring him to say anything about how she looked.

However, Logan seemed to possess at least enough good manners, or perhaps it was self-preservation, to know better. Unfortunately, he did not have enough social graces to appreciate that she'd obviously had a horrendous experience fulfilling his request. "So, did you get it?"

She shot him a dirty look. _He's not even going to ask if I'm alright? I know that he hasn't missed how I look. The least he could do is ask how it went._ "Yeah. Right here." She advanced on him, not even realizing that she was moving as though she were stalking her prey rather than delivering something to her loved one, and placed it on the table between them.

"So, um, thanks. This is going to be really helpful. And it's nice to know that I won't have to pay my maid overtime for cleaning out my throne."

_Ugh_!! If she was reminded one more time of water or the bathroom tonight, she was going to flip. It felt like they were all her entire night had been based on. Seriously, everything seemed to be trying to remind her of her dream last night. She thought through her night- first when she'd gotten to the water treatment plant she had seen that there were far too many guards for her to be able to accomplish her goal without being noticed. But then, she watched as they seemed to all be hit by Ex-Lax at the same time. Some of them actually seemed to be running to the can as she watched with amusement. How convenient that a workplace practical joke had hit just when she'd needed it.

Later she had looked down at the water in the treatment canisters and been hit with how similar the movement in the large tank was to when someone flushes. A few minutes later, she was hit with that idea even harder when she'd heard several people approaching from both sides and been forced to jump down into the water. She'd practically mewled her displeasure as the cold water had hit her. Half an hour later, she was finally able to crawl out, and she went in search of the device.

After an hour long search, she'd finally found the box Logan had told her about. Her thoughts turned murderous as she'd looked down into the deep pool and seen that Logan hadn't bothered to inform her that the device was actually attached to some pipes that were inside the water. No cat likes getting wet, but two submersions in cold water in one night was enough to make her think twice about helping her world-saving partner. Yet again, the bathroom played an important part in the mission as she saw two men leaving the restrooms across from her. With no other valid non-confrontational choice, she jumped into the water, this time not hiding her displeasure as she hissed for a good three seconds. For the next two hours, she was stuck listening to people enter and leave the restroom while the water around her smelled and moved much like she would expect toilet bowl water would.

Finally, she was able to drag her tired, cold, somewhat smelly, wet body out of the water. She quickly blurred to her baby, apologizing to it for making its seat wet, and drove herself back to Logan's place. And now, she was stuck listening to him talk about more water and more bathrooms. When, a few seconds later, he stood up and said, "Can you hold on just a minute? I'll be right back," she could hardly stand it. As she watched him walk to his restroom door, she couldn't help the thought, _You've GOT to be kidding._ And when he called through the closed door a couple of minutes later, "So, where'd you put the chicken? I hope you didn't put it in the fridge. It just doesn't taste right reheated," her eyes nearly popped.

She didn't even bother saying goodbye as she stood up and left, knowing that she would only be able to get a few hours of sleep tonight. For a split second, she wondered what tonight's dreams would hold. And as a pair of laughing hazel eyes came to her mind, the first smile crossed her face since her phone had rung.


	3. Dirty RingAroundtheCollar Dreams

Title: 50 Ways to Kill an Ordinary

Author: Dark Roswellian Angel

Elizabeth McDowell

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did, "Dark Angel" would still be airing, and Jensen Ackles would have been in every episode. And Logan... Logan who?

Copying/Downloading/Posting: Please let me know first, and let me know where my work will be posted as I would love to come visit it. Make sure that it is put under my name, as I would love to hear how others feel about it. Thanks ;)

Rating: T for now, may increase to M later.

Synopsis: Max starts having some seriously disturbing dreams- only does she really find them that disturbing? How do they affect her feelings for the men in her life?

A/N: In case the title and disclaimer didn't make it obvious, don't expect this to be too nice to Logan :) But please keep in mind that this is meant to be just for fun. After all, they're only dreams, right??

2nd A/N: Thank you to everybody who reviewed my second chapter of this fic. Thank you to p3karen (who is always one of the first to review- I am becoming one of her biggest fans), Lily Witchcraft, miss-sci-fi, Erkith, Willow-98, 452max, darkaznangel452, and Myth87. Thanks especially to those of you who are repeat reviewers. I really appreciate your input. You all totally rock!!

* * *

Dirty Ring-Around-the-Collar Dreams

Max was still asleep when O.C. got up the next morning. Even though she knew her girl was oversleeping, she figured she'd let the girl rest. Shark DNA or not, she'd been having difficulty sleeping the past few nights. O.C. smiled as she thought about the reason for her lack of sleep- the past two nights' dreams. Whatever else they might have withheld, her creators had definitely been generous with her creativity. She couldn't help wondering though if there was more to her dreams than just releasing the stress she knew she was under. Like maybe some suppressed feelings? _Be about time those things started comin' out._ She smiled to herself _Might be mighty interestin' if sista' girl'd start dealin' with her feelin's instead of hidin' from 'em._ As she heard a door creaking open, _Well, speak of the devil._ She turned around and found Max moving very slowly as though she were recovering from a major headache. "Didn't hear you come in last night. How late was you out?"

Max attempted a smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. "Too late."

"You feelin' okay, Boo? Usually you look like the fine feline, not like what it dragged in, especially when last I heard you was on yo' way ova to yo' boy's house."

"Yeah, well. It was kind of a long night. A long, _wet_ night."

"I ain't even gonna go there… so we still on for tonight?" At Max's look of utter confusion. "We gotta get all those loads of clothes what are takin' over our flat washed, member?" She gestured over to the corner of the apartment where the stacks of clothes had already overwhelmed one chair and half the couch. "We goin' over to the Laundromat tonight?"

"No!"

Surprised, O.C. watched as Max shook her head as though her outburst was causing major pain. "Okay, is there somethin' wrong with wearin' clothes that don't smell like Sketchy's feet after he's been to the gym?"

"No… Ugh… this talking… just not a good thing…"

"Okay. So, I'm guessin' you ain't got a problem with wearin' clothes that have been washed sometime during the last month, so what is yo' problem, Chica?"

Max's eyes opened a little wider and she opened and closed her mouth as though she were attempting to say something but then thought better of it.

"Max... Hello... Earth to Max... What's the problem?" O.C. tried to keep from rolling her eyes.

"I had another one of those crazy whack dreams last night." She may have been trying to overcome a night that her inner kitty had found extremely displeasurable, but she didn't miss O.C.'s eyebrows shooting up or the slight smile that shone on her face for half a second before her friend quickly wiped it away. She also didn't miss the appraising tone of her voice as she responded, "Reaaallly? Do share, Boo. You know, I'm startin' to really enjoy these dreams o' yo's."

In response, Max groaned out loud. "Well, I guess it's only fittin' that someone does, seein' as how they seem to be becoming pretty regular."

O.C. laughed in response, but when it appeared Max was going to clam up on her, she pushed, "Now, come on. You've shared yo' last two dreams- it's too late to stop sharin' now. It's as good as those soaps my momma used to watch, you know, like 'Days of All Our Children's Lives,' or whatever. 'Fore the Pulse put them all out of action, ya know?"

Max smiled slightly and shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, but remember… you asked for it. It really wasn't that great a dream- by the time I finish you may be wishing I hadn't told you."

O.C. sat down on the kitchen chair next to Max and waited with expectation shining in her eyes. "Shoot, boo."

Max seemed a little ill at ease now that she was clearly put on the spot. "Yeah, well… okay, so… it kind of started with another mission. You know how the last two nights dealt with Logan sending me on missions or talking about sending me on a mission and it just not turning out so well? (she waited for Cindy's nod) So I guess I figured it would work better if I got some help with a mission, and maybe that way I could break this psycho dream cycle. So when he told me about the mission, I suggested that I get Alec's help with it. All of a sudden, Logan went all crazy jealous. He actually went so far as to accuse me of using missions with Alec as an excuse to spend time with him. Of course I denied that- I mean even the thought of spending one second more than is absolutely necessary with that stuck-up, self-centered, never-worked-an-honest-day-in-his-life, boy-in-man's-clothing repulses me."

"Of course."

Max wasn't sure if Original Cindy was agreeing with her or if her reply was completely laced with sarcasm, so she decided to continue as though she'd received the answer she wanted, "So, he suggested that he come with me instead. The more I tried to help him understand that it had nothing to do with me wanting to spend time with Alec and everything to do with me needing a highly-trained, stealthy, genetically-empowered, guns-the-size-of-an-elephant's-trunk, got-my-back partner, the more upset Logan got. Finally, I gave in and let him come, but we hadn't even got to the place for more than three minutes before Logan accidentally knocked down a tray of tools. The whole place echoed for what seemed like forever, and all the guards started coming to investigate. To keep from getting caught, we had to jump into this dumpster that we were standing next to."

"Ugh. That's just too disgustin', but I don't quite get why it would make you want to avoid cleaning yo' clothes. Seems to me that it would make ya' want to be wearin' some springtime-fresh smellin' clothes jus that much more, Boo."

"Yeah, well that's 'cause I haven't finished telling you the whole story."

"Aiight, aiight, I ain't tryin' to step on yo' finish. Consider my hole closed for the duration." There was no way she wanted to miss any of this.

"Yeah, so we were stuck in there for hours. And the longer we were stuck in there, the smellier it got, and the more annoying Logan got- constantly talking about how disgusting the situation was- like I didn't already know. And how hungry he was- and I mean I was too, it's not like he let us stop off for a burger before going all mission on me. And then he started laying in on me saying that it was my fault that I didn't catch him or stop him before he bumped into the box. And he didn't even listen to me when I reminded him that if I had touched him, I would have wound up killing him, and that maybe he should be more concerned about that than figuring out who's been stealing the world's golf ball supply. But he just wouldn't listen…"

True to her word, O.C. refused to interrupt, but when Max began to stare at the toaster morosely, she did clear her throat to remind Max that the story wasn't over.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. So, anyway, we were stuck in the dumpster for what felt like absolutely _forever._ Finally, we got out, and then we just left. It was like Logan had totally lost any interest in the mission and just wanted to get cleaned up. So we went back to his place to wash up. Only instead of him going into his bathroom, he went into his laundry room. He actually got up on a stool and climbed into his enormous washing machine saying that this way he could clean his clothes at the same time as he cleaned himself and that way he could save the world's water supply. While I was trying to register that, he reached over to a shelf right next to his ironing board and pulled down a toaster. I tried to tell him that I didn't think that he should be messing around with an electronic device while he was standing in a pool of water, but he told me that the only reason I thought that way was because I'm not human and don't need to eat as much as he does. He said he kept the toaster there for just such ravenous emergencies as this one, and then he popped one slice of bread into the slot and pushed down the lever. He wasn't even going to offer me a piece! I was trying to deal with how rude that was when the spin cycle started and he lost his footing, fell in the water while still holding the toaster, and fried himself."

"Damn. Burnt white boy. Musta' smelled like somethin' downright nasty," a stunned O.C. forgot to keep her mouth shut in her surprise.

"Actually, no. Just when I guess I should have been smelling some serious burned hair, the toast popped up, and it smelled delicious. In fact, it made me so hungry that I grabbed it and went into the kitchen to get some butter and jam."

"Really. Well, I guess that was very… pragmatic… of you."

"Yeah, well, it really worked out well because when I got into the kitchen I found another toaster with four slots in it. I dropped four more pieces in, and just as they were popping up, he walked in and asked for a couple of slices."

"He?" the smile was more obvious by this time.

"Well, yeah," Max didn't even seem to notice the grin. "Alec had heard about the mission and had come to offer some help. When he saw me with the toast he asked if he could have some."

"And did you give him... _some_?"

"Well, course. I mean, it wasn't his fault that the mission went all sideways. But…"

O.C. noticed the hint of a smile cross Max's features. "Yeah?"

"I kind of told him that he'd have to earn it." The smile grew.

"Reeaaalllly? And did he… '_earn it'_?" O.C. almost laughed out loud with the enjoyment she saw on the other girl's face.

"Oh, yeah… boy did he ever."

* * *

A couple of hours later, they had arrived at Jam Pony. As it was finally payday, O.C. was having a blast making comments about earning things. Before Max had received her money, O.C. had asked her if she was more interested in the quantity of the cash or the quality of the runs she'd done. Then Sketchy had looked at her like she was crazy when she turned to Max and asked if she had earned as much this pay period as last or if she was enjoying some "fringe benefits." And Herbal wondered what she was using when she started laughing while asking Max how she preferred it- one big lump of hard cash or if size didn't matter. Even Normal made a comment about O.C. being "off her rocker" when she asked him "if Max were to cut her earnings in half, would little Alecs fall out?" Even O.C. realized that she was getting a little overly silly when she thought out loud, "If puttin' out her fire earns him toast, I wonder what he'd have to do for pancakes."

By lunchtime, O.C. was just about out of comments to make. All she could come up with was some sing-song little rhyme about "two little paystubs sitting in a tree…" and half of the words to some pre-Pulse country song about some guy who wanted to party but "no dice, son, you got to work late." Max was very grateful that her friend's "mad verbal skills" were finally being exhausted. The whole morning had been a rather difficult one for her- first from her lack of sleep and second from O.C.'s constant barrage of comments. Though for some reason neither one had managed to put her in a truly bad mood yet. She refused to think too much about the fact that she'd been in a pretty good mood ever since she'd woken up from that dream, even considering how miserable last night had been. She was just thankful that for some reason Alec hadn't arrived at work yet.

So it was more for the sake of her reputation as a cold, irritable lioness that she kept telling O.C. to drop the subject (even though she actually kind of secretly liked being reminded of how her dream had ended) and threatening bodily harm to anyone else who seemed apt to help O.C. with her fun. She was just about to turn on Sketchy who had managed to get O.C.'s "tree" rhyme stuck in his head when she heard a rich voice "ahem" behind her. Startled, she looked up into deep drown-yourself-and-enjoy-it green eyes. Her eyes grew as large as saucers but before he was able to say anything to her, she had twisted around and nearly run around the corner, grabbed a package from Normal who had only yelled twice for someone to take a job out to the outskirts of town, jumped on her bike, and taken off.

"Now, what the hell was that all about?" asked a perturbed Alec.

His sentiments were echoed half a second later by O.C. who had seen Max's reaction but not its cause. When she turned around the corner and nearly bumped into the object of her morning's delights, she responded with, "Oh. It's you. Mr. Golden Boy himself finally deigned us worthy of his presence, huh?"

"Yeah. Whatever. So what's up with your girl?"

"My girl? I'm sure I don't know what yo're talkin' 'bout. Why would anythin' be up with Max?"

"I don't know. Hence the whole asking thing. But she's been avoiding me for days now, and it's starting to get old."

"Well," O.C. put her attitude into her statement, "like I said I'm sure I don't know what-"

"Yeah, yeah. You have no idea what I'm talking about. Right. But Cindy, if something's wrong, I need to know. If she needs help, she's going to come to me sooner or later anyway, right? I mean, it's not like Logan's really a great big bunch of help when it comes to getting his hands dirty."

As O.C.'s mind took her to the dumpster, she bit down her chuckle. "Yeah, no doubt."

Alec was oblivious to O.C.'s amusement and continued, "He seems to prefer using Max for that, and somehow that seems to translate to me getting my hands dirty too. I'd just like some warning before I make plans."

O.C. put her hands on her hips and gave him an appraising look saying, _As though you ever have plans as important as anything Max needs you for._

He tried to ignore her look, and the truth behind it, and instead attempted to con the girl. "So, if Max is in trouble, or if she needs my help, then you'd really only be acting like a good friend if you were to tell me what's going on."

"Look, sug, I know you ain't expectin' me to dish my girl's bizness on you, aiight? If she needs you, that's her dealio and she'll let you know. But up to that, if you gotta know what's up with her, then I suggest you ask her yo'self."

"Yeah, I guess I can respect that." Alec had to admit to himself that her words were those of a true friend, even though he hated not knowing what was bothering his Manticore-designated breeding partner. As he turned away from O.C., he made up his mind to get the brunette beauty to fess up. Just as soon as he saw her next.

* * *

As Max walked into Logan's loft, she was filled with apprehension. She really wasn't in the mood for this. She'd been in such a good mood until about two hours ago. Strangely enough that was right about the same time Logan had called and invited her to come over, pointing out that it was the least she could do after leaving so unceremoniously both of the previous nights. She had been hard pressed to not inform him that neither of those nights were the first time she'd felt the urge, but she had fought her instinct down and told him that she simply hadn't felt right and had needed to go home to lie down. Which in some ways had been truthful. Now as she walked in through his front foyer, she hoped tonight wouldn't be a repeat of the previous nights' problems. As she heard some soothing music playing through the apartment and smelled the delectable scent of apricot chicken wafting to her from the kitchen, she smiled. Obviously Logan was in an affectionate mood tonight.

An hour and a half later, Max sat back completely content. She was full of delicious food and the company had been superb. Logan had outdone himself and he was making an obvious effort to be the perfect host. She smiled as he told her about the latest in a series of serious guffaws by a particular mobster and laughed out loud as he described the concept of The Darwin Awards and what it meant to be an honorary member. Then he'd turned things sweet and serious by telling her about what had been happening to a recent Eyes-Only-saved-victim, how together they'd helped to save this person's life, and now she was doing very well in her new job with her new life and her new name. Even better she had recently gotten engaged and was hoping they'd be able to come to her wedding. Finally, as the conversation had died down to a comfortable silence, they had simply gazed across the candlelight into each other's eyes. Max had to admit that this was just about as ideal as life could get. Her smile became even more genuine as she thought again of the many ways this man had helped to change her life.

And then her smile completely disappeared as he attempted to refill her glass and accidentally sloshed the wine over the rim causing a large amount of liquid to land on his lap. As he bit down a curse, "Damn it to he-" and jumped up, her eyes became wide with trepidation. _Oh no! Not this! Just tell me this isn't going to hap-_

"Sorry. I'll be right back."

As he stood up, she knew exactly where he was going and what was going to happen. She watched him get up and walk away from her as though he were in slow motion. With a look halfway between horror and astonishment, she watched him walk down the hallway toward his laundry room and heard him open and shut the door. As though in a trance, she slowly got up and followed him. When she reached the door to the laundry room, she heard a noise that she only partially recognized. Her feline curiosity got the best of her and after unsuccessfully trying to behave herself, she finally opened the door. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the scene that met her eyes.

Logan had turned on the washing machine but before he dropped his pants into the sudsy water, he had decided to try to work on them himself. So now he was standing in his slightly graying, polkadot boxers, working feverishly with a toothbrush and some sort of gel. As he rubbed at his pants, he was talking to himself, "Out! Out damned spot!"

When he finally noticed her standing there, he turned towards her still holding the toothbrush. The slightly crazed look in his eye had her looking at him as though he had grown a second head and backing slowly away. Then she whispered, "Sorry for interrupting," and beat a hasty retreat through his front door, promising herself that she would wait at least a few days before even thinking of coming back.

A/N: I borrowed the rhyme and country song, neither of which I know from whom. The "Out! Out damned spot!" I believe is from Shakespeare, but I'm too tired to try to track it down. If you really need to know, push the little button down there, and I will find it for you. Also, I'm keeping Herbal in here because I miss him. So, let me know if you miss him too (by pushing that little button down there- shameless ain't I ;P


	4. Hunger Pains

Title: 50 Ways to Kill an Ordinary

Author: Dark Roswellian Angel

Elizabeth McDowell

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did, "Dark Angel" would still be airing, and Jensen Ackles would have been in every episode. And Logan... Logan who?

Copying/Downloading/Posting: Please let me know first, and let me know where my work will be posted as I would love to come visit it. Make sure that it is put under my name, as I would love to hear how others feel about it. Thanks ;)

Rating: T for now, may increase to M later.

Synopsis: Max starts having some seriously disturbing dreams- only does she really find them that disturbing? How do they affect her feelings for the men in her life?

A/N: In case the title and disclaimer didn't make it obvious, don't expect this to be too nice to Logan :) But please keep in mind that this is meant to be just for fun. After all, they're only dreams, right??

2nd A/N: I have to apologize for not getting this up by my goal time. And I have to warn everybody. No matter how good looking or smooth they are with the words, ignore those fine men with the sign-up-to-join clipboards. I swear to you now, no matter what they claim, stomach bugs just ain't nowhere near as fun as they claim. I repeat (as I have been doing for the past few days now) avoid the bug! Do not sign!

3rd A/N: I also have to give a great big thank you to everybody who reviewed the third chapter of this fic. Thank you to JoJo2753, Lily Witchcraft, p3karen, src13, Erkith, Myth87, Willow-98, darkaznangel452, and purplebunnywabbit. Getting reviews is so much fun- I can definitely understand how people can become review-junkies :)

* * *

Hunger Pains

When O.C. came out of her bedroom that morning, she found a wide awake Max sitting at the kitchen breakfast bar. As she came closer to the girl, she found her staring straight ahead with a very strange, somewhat off-balanced look on her face. _Uh-oh. Looks like the dreams have finally done her in,_ she thought, only halfway joking. "Good morning Max. And how did we sleep last night?"

Max attempted to look nonchalant, even though she'd been up since 2 this morning attempting to forget last night's dream. She'd tried to forget it as she'd cleaned up her bedroom. She'd tried to forget it as she'd picked up the apartment. And then as she'd vacuumed it. And then as she'd dusted it. And then as she'd reorganized the cans in the kitchen cabinets. And as she'd cleaned the refrigerator. And as she'd scoured the bathroom. And folded all the clean laundry. And then as she'd read and memorized the ingredients in a can of chili. And soup. And Sloppy Joe mix. And then as she'd finally seen the sun rise and decided it was time for breakfast, only she couldn't decide what she wanted to eat, so she'd actually read through two of the recipe books that Kendra had lent to her three years ago and she'd never had time to look through before. And then she'd continued trying to forget as she'd pulled all the ingredients together to make a streusel coffee cake. And then she tried to remember as she put the _correct _amounts of ingredients in the second-attempt cake, while she tried to forget last night's dreams. And now that O.C. was finally up, Max had come to one conclusion- there was no way she was going to be forgetting her dreams. So, she'd given up trying. "Don't even bother trying to pretend you aren't interested in hearing if I've had another one of my 'let's all kill Logan' dreams."

Original Cindy was a little surprised by Max's response, but she put that aside. "Aiight, Boo. I ain't gonna front. So, did you?"

Max looked down, unable for yet another morning to meet O.C.'s eyes. Even if she was the one to open up the discussion this morning, it was still going to be a difficult one.

"You did!" O.C. nearly crowed. "Aiight, Boo. Let me hear it."

Max knew the girl wasn't going to let it go until she'd heard all the details, but she had to try to explain first. "Alright. But first, you have to know that this one was all his fault. He was the one that went all crazy last night, and I think my dreams were totally influenced by the way he was acting. 'Cause there is just no way I would have gone this way otherwise."

"Aiight, aiight, I got you, Boo. This dream is totally conflictin' with yo' personal bein', not a thing like you, at all," she readily agreed, not wanting to miss out on the dream. But she had to add, "Unlike the totally-like-you dreams you been havin'." She smiled at the dirty look Max directed at her.

"Are you gonna talk, or are you gonna listen?"

"I can't do both?"

"No. Not this time."

"Aiight, I'm listenin'. Way is all yo's."

"Well, like I told you last night when I got home, Logan went all crazy on me, and I think that's why I dreamt what I dreamt. Because otherwise, I don't think I would have. I mean, what with my luck, I probably would have still dreamt something totally whack, but I don't think it would have been like this."

O.C. simply raised her eyebrows to say, _Like what? You ain't said nothin' yet._

Max looked at her as though to figure out if she was going to judge her for what she was about to say. "Well, okay. Here goes. I went over to Logan's house and we were talking about an upcoming mission. I know- recurring theme here or what. But anyway, we were talking about a dealio that he wanted me to pull that night at a major ball. And he was acting all high and mighty, like I didn't have any clue how to behave myself at an upclass party, like I didn't have a better pedigree than anybody I might meet at 'the event.' He was getting really rude about it. He demanded that I use the dress that he'd bought even though it was too tight and made me look more like a hooker than anyone who would have any actual business going to this socialite dinner. (_Pervert_ was O.C.'s immediate thought, completely forgetting that this was actually Max's dream.) So I put on the dress, but then he started criticizing my hair and when I'd fixed that he started degrading my make up, so I fixed that too. Then he started in on my legs, and when I demanded to know what was wrong with my legs, he said that he could see the stubble. Well, I didn't bother trying to explain to him just how difficult it can be to keep feline DNA from growing extra hair even when you don't want it to. At least at three times during the year, anyway. (At O.C.'s worried look) Even though I'm totally not in one of those times of the year. Instead, when he actually pushed a razor and a can of shaving gel in my hands, I just went to the bathroom, closed the door, and started at it. You know, come to think of it, I think it was his error in judgment that caused the whole problem. I mean handing me that razor just proved to be his total downfall; (_Uh-oh, this does not sound good _thought O.C.) 'cause when I was in the bathroom shaving, I could only barely hear what he was talking about."

"And then he came to the door of the bathroom and wouldn't leave me alone. He was talking about something and I couldn't quite hear what he was saying, so I opened the door so I could hear better and kept my legs turned away from him so that he wouldn't see anything. Finally, I heard what he was saying, "Oh, my gosh. I can't even believe how much cottage cheese there is." And I couldn't even believe that he would say that about my legs when I was only doing this whole shaving thing for him and his stupid "Save the Letter R from Misuse" mission. So I was so totally startled by what he had said that the razor flew out of my hand and somehow connected with his throat and before I knew it, his jugular was sliced clear open and he was dead."

"It was only then that I realized he was holding a card in his hand and when I went to look at it, it turned out that it was a recipe for lasagna. And the cottage cheese he'd been talking about was all the cottage cheese containers heaped on each other on the counter, all ready to be added to the meat sauce he'd already started. Well, if I hadn't already been upset about him dying, I would have started crying over the loss of the lasagna. At least, that is, if he hadn't shown up."

"He who, Boo?" _Like I don't already know._ O.C. smiled at the girl, waiting to hear his name.

"Alec. I guess he was going to come with us, or with me, because he walked in wearing this incredibly hot tux. When he saw what had happened, he immediately came over to me and tried to console me, but I couldn't stop crying. Finally, I was able to explain how much I love lasagna, and how I just couldn't stand the thought of Logan's final masterpiece going to waste. And if I tried to finish it, I knew I'd totally ruin it. So, Alec stood up and walked over to the stove and finished it. Even though he was still wearing his tuxedo. And you know, it never tasted better."

"And then?"

"'And then' what?"

"So, you're saying that you didn't do anything after you were done fillin' your bellies with the lasagna?"

"Oh, well, not exactly."

O.C.'s face dropped as she began to wonder if she'd been wrong about the direction her girl's dreams were trying to take her.

Max laughed at O.C.'s expression. "But we did have like an hour to kill while it was baking. And I did owe him for helping me. So when we were eating it, we were actually feeding it to each other- while we were still in bed. Does that count?"

O.C.'s smile flared back to life. "You little teasin' _ho_," she said with a huge grin as she lightly punched Max's shoulder. "You knew exactly what I meant."

Max laughed back at her.

"Oh. Speakin' of, you know yo're going to have to stop avoidin' yo' boy. He's startin' to get all suspicious like."

"Which boy?"

"Alec, Boo."

"Oh."

O.C. was surprised that Max didn't automatically deny her use of the term "yo boy." "Yeah, he came up to me yesterday and wanted to know if there was something wrong. Said you've been avoidin' him. Said it was worryin' him, and he wanted to be available in case you needed any help."

"Hmm." Though her response was noncommittal, Max couldn't help the thought, _That was sweet_, from crossing her mind.

* * *

As she biked to work that morning, Max mulled over O.C.'s words regarding the fair-haired, hunky transgenic that she'd been working with for the past few months. And she decided she was right. After all, she was a born-and-bred soldier- there was absolutely no way that one little measly boy was going to be able to scare her into retreat. As she continued to think about it, she started getting angry. The fact that it was all her dreams and not based on anything that the man had either said or done really didn't factor into her thoughts. _Just who the hell does he think he is?! Trying to scare me off like that at work. How dare he! If anything, I'm the C.O. at this particular locale, and I am not about to back down 'cause if he thinks that he's going to be able to take over my post without a fight, then he is just that much more insane than I already know he is. This is MY home, MY job, MY friends, MY life, and he is not going to take ANY of it away from me. When I get my hands on him, he's going to wish he'd never been biogenetically bred! _As she finished her thoughts, she realized that she had been so upset that she'd actually blurred to work and she had already arrived.

Full of resolve and firmly holding on to her anger, she walked her bike down the ramp, and deposited her bike. Full of resolve and holding on to her anger, she went to her locker and opened it. With resolve and holding on to her anger, she deposited her jacket, and got out her cap. Sure of herself and still holding on to some anger, she turned around and walked towards Normal's dispatch desk. Pretty sure of herself and still upset, she looked towards Normal and saw him looking away from her. Unsure of herself and feeling something very different from anger, she turned and saw the object of his attentions. Completely unconvinced and trying hard to keep from deciphering the new feeling she'd had at the sight of him, she spun around and blurred, not caring who saw her, around the corner. Totally confused and heart beating a mile a minute, she tried to convince herself that there was no reason that she couldn't wait a day, or even a week, before she went and told him off. And completely baffled and slightly dizzy, she fell back against her locker, took a deep breath in, and tried to reassure herself that _he_ hadn't seen her and that it was the bike ride and not the sight of him that was stealing her breath away.

And twenty feet away, the object of her myriad emotions was telling himself the same thing.

* * *

About six hours later, Max's pager began buzzing. With a sigh at fate, she looked down at it and saw a familiar number. She almost didn't call back but decided that she was not about to be ruled over by some funky dreams. Still, she almost chickened out three times before finding a working public phone. As she dialed the number, she began wondering if there was any reason that was good enough for her to be going through all this. Then, when she heard his voice, she breathed a sigh of relief and reminded herself that he was worth all of this. She smiled as she heard his greeting and then asked, "So, you paged? Got a job for me or what?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you'd like to come over tonight. We seem to be having some problems hooking up lately, and I think I've come up with a foolproof plan for an enjoyable evening."

"Oh yeah?" she couldn't wait to hear it. Logan was such a total romantic- this was guaranteed to be good.

"Yeah. What do you say to coming over to my place around 8:30? I'll cook us up some dinner, we can have a great Pre-Pulse Cabernet I've been saving, and we can watch 'Some Like it Hot'."

Imagining some serious downtime with her boy, Max smiled again. Maybe they wouldn't be able to touch, but they'd still be able to talk and laugh and have some fun. It sounded like just what the doctor ordered. "Sounds great. Count me in. Need me to bring anything?" a strange sense of foreboding hit her as she asked.

"Yeah, actually, if you could bring a loaf of French bread with you, I'd really appreciate it."

_Well, that doesn't exactly sound like a request for explosives and a match,_ she thought with relief. "Sure, no problem."

"Great," she could hear the smile in his voice. "It'll go great with the lasagna I've already started cooking. I got the recipe from my Great Aunt Marge when she…" Two minutes later, Logan realized that he seemed to have lost the connection. And five minutes after that, an older, weathered man with straggly hair passed the phone booth and noticed that someone seemed to have left the phone dangling and just walked off. As he replaced it on the hook, he asked his favorite voice what on earth could have bothered a person that much.


	5. I'm Gonna Wash Those Grays

Title: 50 Ways to Kill an Ordinary

Author: Dark Roswellian Angel

Elizabeth McDowell

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did, I think I'd be out playing with Jensen instead of sitting on my bed just dreaming of him. (sigh…)

Copying/Downloading/Posting: Please let me know first, and let me know where my work will be posted as I would love to come visit it. Make sure that it is put under my name, as I would love to hear how others feel about it. Thanks ;)

Rating: T for now, may increase to M later.

Synopsis: Max starts having some seriously disturbing dreams- only does she really find them that disturbing? How do they affect her feelings for the men in her life?

A/N: In case the title and disclaimer didn't make it obvious, don't expect this to be too nice to Logan :) But please keep in mind that this is meant to be just for fun. After all, they're only dreams, right??

2nd A/N: You know, when computers work the way you want them to, they're wonderful. And when you accidentally erase a fic that you've been working on for weeks and are unable to bring it back, they stink. And it just sucks all your enthusiasm for writing right out of you. But, I've been rereading some of the reviews that I've gotten for this fic, and I'm starting to feel the creative juices again. So, thanks to all of you who have reviewed this fic so far. It makes a real difference for me.

* * *

I'm Gonna Wash Those Grays…

It was a very groggy, VERY grumpy OC who stumbled out of her bedroom the next morning. She'd been desperately trying to ignore the incessant humming that had started around 4:30 this morning. But after battering at her door for an hour and a half, it had turned into whistling, and when that forsaken drilling sound had turned into actual full-blown singing half an hour ago, she'd finally given up. Which isn't to say that she hadn't stubbornly refused to admit that her night's sleep was over and had therefore spent the past 28 minutes tossing and turning and sticking her head under her pillow vainly attempting to block out the sound, because she had. But finally, she'd given up, crept out of bed, and staggered to her door silently threatening to cause serious bodily harm to the owner of the vicious vocal cords.

"I'm gonna wash those grays right out of my hair, I'm gonna wash those grays right outta…"

As she pulled her door open, OC wasn't sure what surprised her more- the fact that Max was bebopping around the apartment like she didn't have a care in the world, or the fact that her pipes could actually put OC's girl Diamond's skills in a run for the money. She wondered how much of her talent was 'cause o' her spiced-up DNA and how much was just 'cause. She stood there silently wondering until the other girl turned around in a fancy dance step, saw her standing there watching her, and without further ado tripped over the hose that was for some reason hooked up to their sink. She instantly righted herself, and then she immediately turned four shades of red when she realized that she'd been caught dancing and singing around the room.

"Hi, OC," she said just a bit too cheerily. If OC had been paying attention, she would have noticed that it seemed just a little off-kilter. Not necessarily an unpleasant off-kilter, in fact if anything, Max could use a little loosening up lately, but off-kilter all the same. However, OC was still half asleep, so she didn't notice it. Probably just as well- Max wouldn't have wanted to worry her.

Instead, OC just frowned at her as she walked over to the barstool that had also taken a nasty turn when the hose had wrapped itself around it during her spill. Without a single word to the girl, she stood it up and sat on it, watching the transgenic continue to try to pretend that nothing had happened. With dwindling patience brought on by a disrupted night's sleep, she watched as the beauty opened her mouth three times before closing it, acting as though she wanted to say something but didn't know how to go about doing so.

When she finally realized that the girl wasn't going to say anything more, she harrumphed her displeasure and bent to the serious task of figuring out what she wanted to eat for breakfast- not that they had a wide array of choices, of course. But still, it was better than just watching Max look like she had swallowed her own tongue. As she finally decided on Fruity, Sugar-Smacked, Honey Bunches o' Carbonated, Rainbow-flavored, Caramelized, Chocolate Oreo Rice Krispies, she ignored the girl (who was still making with the fish faces), got out her bowl, wondered what had happened right after the Pulse to make cereal names so freaking long, and got busy with her "breakfast of the champions"- at least that's what it said on the box. _Yeah, right. Maybe if they's the champions of the sofa-sittin', couch potato marathon…Man, these things is nasty. But they got enough suga to wake a elephant from a coma, and tha's just what I need right now. So I guess I betta eat up._

When she'd finally gagged down her meal, she turned around to face Max again. She was concerned to see that the girl was still looking as though she were shellshocked. _Maybe I shouldn'ta left her all on her own this mornin'. Clearly somethin' happened. _"Sug, are you aiight?" As she asked the question, she realized how often she'd been asking her boo that. Ever since those dreams had started. _Could it be?_ "Baby Gurl, is it one o' those dreams again?"

Finally, Max seemed to shake herself loose from whatever was traumatizing her. She felt embarrassed that she'd let the fact that someone had caught her singing in some place other than a shower affect her as much as she had. "Yeah. I'm fine. And, yeah, I guess it is another dream." She raised her shoulders dismissively.

OC was immediately on her feet, leading Max over to their dilapidated couch. "Well, you just sit right here sista girl, and tell your girl what happened." She studied Max's face carefully and was reassured when she saw that her boo seemed to be handling things better now. In fact, there was a slight smile playing about her features.

"Well, I went over to Logan's. He said that he needed my help with a mission- _don't_ say it. Something about this nefarious tampon-running gang crossing the border, I'm not entirely sure what that was all about. So we were talking and he said that he was going to need two people about the same age for this mission. I totally thought he was talking about Alec and me, since you know he was talking to _me_ about the mission which meant that he wanted me to go on it, and Alec is right about my age what with him being Ben's twin and all. But when I made a comment that made Logan realize that I was thinking Alec would be coming, he explained that he'd actually meant himself. I accidentally laughed at the thought that he could think that he and I are about the same age. Even though I tried to cover it up with a cough, he knew what I was doing, and he went off on why I might think that he's so much older than I am. Finally, he decided that it was because of the gray in his hair. I tried to tell him it wasn't, but the more I denied it, the more gray there seemed to be."

"Well, he became almost furious, accusing me of being attracted to Alec because of his hair. He even claimed to have seen me running my hand through it like it was the softest most luscious bit of satin I'd ever felt. And I'm not going to go into the direction that that took my dream-memories for a few seconds before turning back to him. Anyway, he decided that he was going to take care of the problem, and rid himself of any competition, by fixing his hair. I kept telling him that he didn't have to, that he looked plenty young just the way he was, but he totally wasn't buying it. Not that I could really blame him. By then he was starting to look like a picture I once saw of some guy named Santa Claus."

"So, for some reason, he seemed to already have a major stash of Get-the-Gray-Out men's hair dyes in his bathroom, and he stalked in there, slamming the door in my face when I tried to help him. So, I waited for a while, listening to him as he started working. And then I waited as he set the timer and sat down in there, but when the timer went off, I didn't hear any movement. I waited anyway because I knew he didn't want to be disturbed, but when he still hadn't come out half an hour later, I broke the door down."

"It was horrible. (Max shuddered at the memory) He was just lying there babbling incoherently. He kept saying something about having to get the grays out. It didn't take long for me to realize what he'd done- he'd been so desperate to get all the gray out of his hair that he'd left the dye in for too long. And the chemicals in the solution must have been extra-strength because somehow he had managed to fry his brain with the hair dye. I knew he wasn't going to last long, but I wanted to try to help him anyway, so I called the only person I knew whose blood might be rich enough with stem cells to fix the damage. Well, the only person who could actually touch him, who could be seen in public, and whose phone number I knew by heart."

"By the time Alec got there, Logan was just barely hanging on. He was having one of his last lucid moments, and we were saying our goodbyes. When Alec came in, he could tell immediately that there wasn't anything he could do, so he held me to him and tried to comfort me. Logan died with this really pissed off look on his face."

OC waited patiently for Max to continue, but the girl just stopped there. So, she cleared her throat, but the girl still wasn't forthcoming. "Alright, shugg, we both know that yo' dreams is startin' to follow a pattern. So, why don't you just out with the rest o' it 'fore OC gotta smack it outta ya'?"

Max kind of smirked at the threat. "Fine… So, it turns out that Logan was right- Alec's hair was incredibly soft. And you know how when you're upset about something, sometimes you find yourself rubbing your hand on something soft because it's kind of soothing? Well, that's sort of what I found myself doing with Alec's hair. And he definitely wasn't complaining. In fact, after a few seconds, he was responding in a very… positive way. And before I knew it, I was getting totally wrapped up in not only how his hair felt, but how his lips felt, and then how his chest felt, and then how his-"

"Whoa, Baby Gurl, that is _not_ a visual that OC wants to have playin' in her head, aiight? Let's just say you got all wrapped up in each other and did the diddly."

"Boy, diddly-did we," Max couldn't help the smile that passed her lips. It had been almost a year since she'd seen any real action, and the effects of dreaming five nights in a row of getting some of the best interaction she'd ever imagined were doing positive things for her psyche.

OC smiled. She just wished that her girl was actually enjoying some real down-and-dirty lovin', but for now her imagination seemed to be working fine for her. "Sounds as though you enjoyed yourself, though, huh, boo?"

A playful smirk crossed Max's full lips. "You could definitely say that."

"So, does that mean that yo're actually gonna talk to yo' boy today?"

Her smirk turned into a smile. "Definitely. There is no way that I'm going to let him get to me today. I mean, I'm a genetically-enhanced killing machine- there is just no way that I'm going to wimp out from talking to some guy. I mean, it's not like he's anything special. He's just Alec- the screw up, the guy whose butt I've saved dozens of times. I can handle him, no problem. I'm just not going to let him bother me. That's all there is to it."

"Mm-hmm," said a completely unconvinced OC.

So, when Max went in to work that day and caught his scent, and immediately went to Normal complaining of how nauseas she was feeling and how she absolutely had to go home to bed straightaway, she told herself that she wasn't letting him bother her. Nope, it was his malodiferous odor that was bothering her, not him. Even if she did have to admit to herself that she actually enjoyed it. And when she left using the back door knowing that he was near the front, she told herself that it wasn't him affecting her, it was that it was the quickest way to get home. Even though it wasn't.

And later that night when Logan called her up and tried to cajole her into coming over for dinner, she gave him the same excuse of not feeling well enough. And as she hung up the phone, she congratulated herself on how she hadn't let a little thing like dreaming that her not-like-that boyfriend had accidentally fried his brain because he couldn't handle how much older he was than her, and that she had then proceeded to make passionate love to someone who was so much more like her than her boyfriend could ever be (and they didn't just make love once but three times), bother her. Nope, nobody could ever claim that she'd let the men in her life get to her. Not at all.


	6. Getting Tripped Up, aka When You Fall

Title: 50 Ways to Kill an Ordinary

Author: Dark Roswellian Angel

Elizabeth McDowell

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did, I think I'd be out playing with Jensen instead of sitting on my bed typing this and just dreaming of him. (sigh…)

Copying/Downloading/Posting: Please let me know first, and let me know where my work will be posted as I would love to come visit it. Make sure that it is put under my name, as I would love to hear how others feel about it. Thanks ;)

Rating: T for now, may increase to M later.

Synopsis: Max starts having some seriously disturbing dreams- only does she really find them that disturbing? How do they affect her feelings for the men in her life?

A/N: In case the title and disclaimer didn't make it obvious, don't expect this to be too nice to Logan :) But please keep in mind that this is meant to be just for fun. After all, they're only dreams, right??

2nd A/N: So, I've been informed that my last chapter was too short (and I kind of agree) and that I gypped people out of decent Max/Logan and Max/Alec interactions (and I guess I agree with that too). So, I've made a point of adding more Logan (ugh) and Alec (ahhh) time. Hopefully, this will make up for it. If not, blame it on too little sleep. I also popped a little more emotion into it- you're not the only ones who have been missing quality Alec time, but I have to space myself if things are going to manage to stay interesting so all I'm guaranteeing is more Alec, not more Max/Alec for now ;P If you're still feeling the whole Alec-withdrawal thing after this, you're welcome to check out my other fics (hint, hint). They get into him much faster than this thing is. :)

3rd A/N: Thank you again for all of your reviews. I really appreciate your suggestions, and I love that most of them are going in the direction that I have planned for this fic. Gives me hope that people will continue enjoying what I'm writing. Thank you especially to those of you who are repeat reviewers. Thanks to src13, Myth87, 452max, Lily Witchcraft, Willow-98, darkaznangel452, p3karen, purplebunnywabbit, and Beige Flicka.

4th A/N: And last, but hopefully not least, I went to the David Foster & Friends (Groban, Buble, Cetera, Bocelli, Kenny G, plus like 15 more big stars) concert last night- it was totally amazing. I just wanted to say how grateful I am that there are people out there who have such amazing talents and who are willing to share them with the rest of the world. And a big shout-out to all of you writers who, like them, are willing to share your work- I heard a quote (no idea who said it) "writers start out as readers who, finding that the story they truly want to read has not been written yet, must write it themselves." I think that pretty much sums it up. Oh, one more thing- did everybody else already know that Michael Buble is engaged to Amy Foster? 'Cause he announced it on stage last night while he was singing with her dad, but I wasn't sure if that was the first time it had been announced. (I'm frequently the last person to find these kinds of things out.) Anyway, I think that's enough of this for now. If it hasn't made any sense, blame it on the fact that I didn't even get home until almost 2 this morning and am exhausted.

* * *

6- Getting Tripped Up, a.k.a. When You Fall in Your Dreams, Do You Really Die?

_Mmmm, that feels good._ As she looked up, she could see deep hazel eyes, darkened with desire. She could feel his long fingers tracing circles along her back. Luxuriating in the feeling, she stretched out just a little, then lay her head back down on his muscular chest. This was perfection- this was where she was meant to be. She couldn't remember ever feeling this relaxed, or this alive, before. And this was nothing compared to the way she was feeling just five minutes ago. A lazy smile spread across her face as she sniffed the air- evidence of what they'd been doing still lingered. She loved the smell of them- their combination. His strong, musky scent mixed with her sweet, spicy odor was like catnip to her feline senses. As she looked back up into his penetrating orbs, she saw all the emotions that he usually hid. All the emotions that she knew were mirroring in her own eyes. She bit her lip as she realized that this was where all of her tomorrows rested. And she heard a quick intake of breath as his eyes widened and then narrowed in on her mouth. She almost giggled with pleasure as his immediate interest made itself known. _Again? Ahh… I could do this forever._ As he began to readjust himself, she closed her eyes preparing herself for ecstasy. And when she opened them, "Logan?!"

The darkhaired Ordinary looked down at his not-like-that girlfriend with a frown. As he had walked down her apartment hallway, he'd heard something that sounded like a fight. Concerned, he had let himself into her apartment where he had immediately been hit with jealousy as he recognized her moans coming from the other side of her bedroom door. Now, normally, he would have respected her privacy. Normally, he would have turned around and left and pretended he hadn't heard anything. Normally, he wouldn't have already committed breaking and entering in order to get into her home in the first place. No, he usually left that kind of stuff to her. But he'd been wondering what was going on- she kept disappearing, so he'd decided to ignore all that moral stuff and check it out. He just _had_ to know who was in the room with her. Making her sound like that. And, of course, he'd had to see for himself. He was almost disappointed when he saw that she was alone. But then he smiled. He should have known- there was no way that she would be cheating on him. The poor dear must be so desperate to be with him that she was resorting to dreams about being with him. A condescending smile graced his scruffy features. The smile soon disappeared when he heard her say what sounded like "Mmmm, Ale-" before she rolled over and looked up into his face.

The fact that she had probably not been dreaming about him was evidenced by the immediate frown that graced her gorgeous-even-when-she's-just-woken-up, it's-so-not-fair-'cause-he-has-to-spend-an-hour-and-a-half-in-the-bathroom-every-morning-just-to-look-as-halfway-decent-as-he-does-now, features. And when the tone accompanying her question was filled with some sort of combination of disappointment and accusation, his suspicions were confirmed.

It was her worst nightmare. To be woken up by _him_ while she was having a dream about _him_. _That_ kind of dream. She bolted up in bed, her heartrate escalating to nearly 180 while she frantically looked around her. Trying to keep her voice calm, "Uh, hi, Logan. So… what's up?" She tried to put a normal smile on her face while hoping that he wouldn't notice how much she was sweating. She jumped up, desperate to get away from him, completely forgetting that she was wearing her Smurfs thong underwear and so-small-it's-almost-not-there matching tank top. Her eyes became saucers as she watched his eyes glaze with appreciation, and she quickly grabbed her blanket to cover herself. "Logan!! Get out of here!"

Logan was just about to say something when he heard someone else enter the room. He turned around to see OC looking like she was watching a tennis match as she looked between the two of them. He noticed that a pair of white-noise filtering headphones were still hanging around her neck, clearly not plugged into anything. That explained why she hadn't heard Max moaning. _Does she always wear those to filter out Max? What kinds of dreams has she been having? And why?_

"Unh-unh, Mr. B&E Peeping Tom. You be gettin' outta my gurl's _bedroom_ right now."

He wasn't sure how she managed to get the chicken action going with her neck at the same time as she advanced on him, grabbed his arm, and unceremoniously tossed him out with unexpected force, but she did. He landed on his face as the door loudly slammed behind him.

As soon as the door closed, OC turned back to Max. "Man, talk about the wrong way to wake up. You aiight, Boo?"

Max's breathing was still getting back to normal. She felt disappointed as she remembered what she'd been woken from- she'd been just about to enjoy herself, and then he had to come barging in and ruin it. "Yeah. Yeah, thanks for comin' in."

OC was barely able to keep from making some comment regarding perverts and stalkers, but she managed, "Yeah, no problem, boo." She finally got her first real look at her friend and noticed her bright eyes, the rosy glow to her cheeks, and the glistening to her skin. Her eyes narrowed just a little as she analyzed her, "Just what was you dreamin' anyway to keep you so under that you didn't hear him creepin' up on you?" She smiled as the other girl seemed to become even more flustered. "It was him again, wasn't it?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Max turned her back on her friend, hiding her face under the guise of picking up the mess she'd made trying to get away from her so-called boyfriend.

"Uh-huh. Yeah, sure you don't. And the fact that this is the sixth night in a row ain't enough to clue in your biogenetically-empowered brain functions to what I'm talkin' 'bout, right?" She wasn't about to miss her fix on the drama that Max was dreaming, and on a less selfish note, it seemed to help Max to talk about it.

"Fine. Yeah, I was having a dream about him when Logan walked in. So what?"

"Well, damn, girl. I guess I was right by sayin' that this was just 'bout the worse way to be gettin' woken up, huh." Her eyebrows rose, and a smile played about her lips, "So, what was it this time?"

"Unh-unh. Not right now; not with him standing right outside the door. Probably listening." She laughed as she saw the disappointed look on OC's face. "I'll tell you later. Promise."

"Promise?"

She laughed again. "Promise." And the smile on her face convinced OC that it would be a good one.

* * *

Logan refused to leave until he'd had a chance to talk to Max about what had been going on lately. He didn't appreciate being abruptly bumped out of her room, and that was just one of the things on his list of complaints to make. So, when Max finally came out of her room, fully dressed as though she were about to leave, he quickly stood up fully prepared to follow her to wherever she thought she was going. "Max, we need to talk."

Max gave him a quick up-and-down glance, and instead of the panic he expected to cross her features at those ominous words, she actually looked a little amused. "Yeah, what is it Logan?"

"Well…" she was really way too calm, as though whatever he told her wasn't going to affect her, and he didn't like it. "It's just that lately it feels like you are avoiding me. Like every time we try to get together, you just…" why was she looking at him like that? "take off on me." He ended with a quizzical tone to his voice, like he was asking her a question.

As he'd been talking, Max had noticed something. Was it possible that it was just a trick of the lighting? There's just no way. She looked closer- she was right. He had actually done it. She couldn't stand it.

"So, is there something going on? Is there a prob-"

"Did you dye your hair?" she cut him off, her eyes looking like she couldn't believe a guy would do that.

Uncomfortable, he tried to brush her off, "That's hardly the point, Max." Was that a smirk on her lips? "I need to know-"

She wasn't able to cover up her sigh. Aside from her amusement over a portion of her dream coming true, this conversation was boring her. Plus she simply didn't know what to say to him. "Look, I get it. We need to talk. But my apartment at 8 a.m. when you've just barged into my bedroom while I was asleep is hardly the time. Now, I've got to get to work, so if you'll just excuse me…"

Logan's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "_You_ are going to work at 8 a.m.?"

Max shrugged her shoulders as though she couldn't be bothered with whatever he was insinuating. "Yeah, so? A girl's gotta put food on the table. We can't all be born with a silver spoon in our mouths, right?" She brushed past him, careful to not touch him, and bent over to kick her bike off its stand. She felt like taking a leisurely bike ride before going over and giving Normal apoplexy by being the first one to arrive at work this morning. There wasn't anything that strange about it. It wasn't like she was trying to avoid Logan so much that she was making a strange scene, was it?

Logan watched her walk past him. He could see an internal dialogue going on and wished he knew what she was saying to herself. "O-kay. Well, maybe we can talk on the way down the stairs."

"Stairs?" she whipped around to face him, alarm in her eyes. _Not that. Just… not that. Not today. _"Uh, you know, you really don't need to walk me down. You could, uh, stay up here and keep OC company until, you know, I'm gone."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Max quickly put on her Manticore mask, "Uh, nothing." _Yeah, right. Not a single thing._

"Okay, then, I'll just walk down, and we'll talk. Maybe I'll walk you to work."

She tried to hide how repugnant the idea of walking all the way to Jam Pony suddenly felt. She put on a falsely cheerful smile, "Yeah. That would be great."

He, of course, didn't notice how fake her smile was, "Good, it's settled." He smiled back at her, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was aware of the green thing between his teeth. Not that she was going to be the one to tell him. Instead, she just turned around and focused on the task at hand, namely negotiating the stairs.

* * *

After a couple of minutes of no talking and only managing to make it down 4 or 5 steps, Logan was losing his patience. "What is going on Max? I mean, I thought you transgenics had excellent balance and strength and all that. You should already be down these stairs."

After hastily looking around to see if anyone had heard him use the T word, Max looked back at him. She couldn't believe how careless he was with her secret- he, of all Ordinaries, should understand how important secrets are. And, it was only for his own good that she was being so careful. "Yeah, well, I just want to make sure that we both make it down these stairs okay. I mean, they're kind of tricky."

"Are you kidding? They're _stairs_, Max. It's not like we're being shot at or like razor-sharp balls are being thrown at us or-" as he spoke one of the kids upstairs, who didn't like him, threw a ball at his head.

Max's eyes grew wide and alarmed. "See? I'm just trying to watch out for you. I just want you to get there safely." _And alive,_ she silently added.

"To the base of the stairway," Logan spoke critically after recovering his breath from the near ball incident. "Look, if you're too (he shook his head) whatever it is that you are, then I'll go first. Just let me past. This is an easy thing- it shouldn't take you this long. If you keep going at this speed, you're going to be late. We need to hurry up. At this rate, we'll never get there."

As he spoke, Max's eyes seemed to bulge in her head. She squeaked out, "I gotta go. See ya," and with that she was gone, blurring away from him.

Logan looked at the space she'd been residing in. Talking to himself, he grumbled, "Yeah, that's kind of what I was saying."

* * *

Normal had thought he'd seen just about everything, but when he turned the corner and saw Max actually leaning up against the doorway to Jam Pony, he was so startled that he swallowed his gum. "What are you doing here, Missy Miss?" he attempted to cover his shock, but he could tell from the way she was smiling at him that she had noticed.

"Well, this is where I work, right?"

"Supposedly. Although it seems to me like this is the place that you duck out of more often than you actually do anything productive."

"Ahhh, don't be like that. I just decided to say thank you for being so understanding about me needing yesterday off is all."

Her voice was so saccharine-sweet that Normal was suddenly reminded of the day she'd barged into his office while he'd been cleaning his new coffee-stained chemise. He wondered if she'd been hit with whatever kind of strange bug that was again. He hoped not- even though he'd never admit it, he really liked the girl. Like she was a kid sister or a niece or something, and he didn't want to see her doing anything she'd regret. And the fact that she'd come in early was sweet, though he wasn't buying her reason. "Don't mention it." He turned away and opened the gate. "It's actually good that you're here. I've got some early package runs, and you're just the girl to do it."

"Oh yeah? Where to?" Being physically active would help her keep her mind off her dreams. Off the golden-haired, smarta-- that had been taking up residence in her mind recently.

"Sector 5. And another to Sector 7." He turned around in time to see the smile disappear from her face, and he nearly laughed out loud. She seemed so bummed. "It's okay. If you want to run the Sector 7 job first, you can get Alec to go with you to the Sector 5. The drop is just across the street from his place. I wouldn't want my rough-and-tough, I-can-handle-myself Missy Miss to get hurt in the gang block."

He missed the blood draining from her face at the mention of Alec's place, or the idea that he might go with her. "That's okay. You know me- I'm sure I'll be fine. I mean, I'll just duck the bullets, run through the knife-fights, and ignore the drug deals. It'll be great," she attempted to switch the topic over to what Sector 5 was all about.

Normal couldn't help the small smile. _Typical Max._ "Yeah, that's what I figured. So, you better get going. Bip, bip, bip."

* * *

It wasn't until lunchtime that OC finally tracked her girl down. She was like a woman on a mission, and in truth, she was. She hadn't gotten her drama fix this morning, and she was bent and determined to find out what Max had dreamt the previous night. _Well, shoot. It's like the girl's plum bum dropped offa the face o' the planet for as much as I seen her since she dun run off this mornin' with Mr. Eyes-Been-Tryin'-to-See-Too-Much hot on her heels. _But her impatient hunt was just about to be rewarded. She turned around as she heard Normal's usual irritated voice calling out to someone.

"Well, it's nice to see that you've returned to the land of the living, Missy Miss. If I'da known you wouldn't bother to come back until lunchtime, I would've given you a few more packages before you left this morning."

"Can it, Normal. I got held up at sector checkpoints, and I had to duck a few more gunfights than normal in Sector 5."

"Whatever you say. Just keep in mind we've got a business running here, and we aren't going to make any money if every run takes this long."

As OC approached Max, she could hear the girl mumble, "Why does everyone keep telling me to hurry up today?"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Normal. Just saying how grateful we all are for this job."

"Yeah, well… you should be. Thank heavens for my Golden Boy or you'd all be getting canned. At least, he's capable of running packages out in good time."

"Yeah, we all know that his _work ethic_ is why you keep him around. So, where is your perfect son?" OC called out to the man.

"He's out on a run," both Max and Normal answered her simultaneously. Normal and OC immediately turned to look at Max suspiciously.

Shrugging her shoulders, Max answered their looks innocently, "Where else would he be?" She couldn't figure out which was worse- the fact that she'd actually spent time this morning watching his apartment building, feeling all happy inside when it was obvious that he'd spent the night alone, and then watched him come to work, or the possibility that people might find out what she'd been doing. She already felt like a stalker, and for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why she even cared.

"Darn straight. He's worth all the rest of you reprobates put together." Normal dismissed them, and they walked over to Max's locker.

"Aiight, Boo, Original Cindy's gonna let you slide on this one." She didn't fail to notice the relieved look in her girl's eyes. "On one condition though." She noticed the worried look was back. "You tell me exactly what you dreamed last night." The relieved look came back, though not at full strength.

"Fine. It was pretty tame, though."

"That's aiight. Just let OC hear it, and she'll be the judge o' how tame it was."

"Well, Logan came over to the house to pick me up. We were going to go check into some missing money in this Children's Fund. I guess it was a really important one…"

"Which one was it?"

Max grimaced, "The Lost Tooth Fairy's Relief Fund. (She paused as OC tried to contain her chuckle.) Anyway, so Logan was dragging up all these memories of when he was a little boy and how important this fund was to the children of today, and he was in a big hurry. So, he started saying all this garbage about how the only reason I was moving so slow was because I didn't care and how it was wrong of me to neglect today's youth just because I had a bad childhood myself. And he kept pushing it how if I really cared, then I'd hurry up and get over there and fix this big bad motha."

"Yeah, and so?"

"Well, I was doing a decent job of ignoring him, but then he started being really rude and saying that since I didn't care, maybe I should just let him do it all. 'Cause after all, he'd be able to do a much better job than I ever could. And then he said, 'Look, if you're too whatever it is that you are, then I'll go first. Just let me past. This is an easy thing- it shouldn't take you this long. If you keep going at this speed, you're going to be late. We need to hurry up. At this rate, we'll never get there.'"

"Oh, so that's why you freaked out this morning, huh?" OC had been able to hear their stairwell conversation all the way in their kitchen where she'd been starting breakfast- Oreo cookie omelette.

"Yeah, I guess… So, are you gonna let me tell this story or not?"

"Original Cindy is all ears, boo. Tell it."

"So, anyway, I realized that the reason that we were actually going so slow was because he kept stopping me so that he could complain. And I realized that the only way we were ever going to make any headway was if he did lead the way; because then he wouldn't have any way to blame me and maybe he'd start focusing on getting the dealio done. So, I moved over and let him push past me on the stairs. Only, he was still griping so much that he didn't notice this ball on the stairs. He stepped on it and fell and broke his neck. It was horrible. I felt so incredibly guilty."

"Well, all things considered, I don't think that was so bad. And it wasn't like it was your fault, you know."

"Well, actually…"

"Actually what?… Max?"

"There's the slightest bit of a chance that… (she saw OC's eyebrows raise) that I might've gotten really tired of listening to him complain when it was his fault that we were late. And I might've… well, I might've pushed him."

"So, you's sayin' that you might've pushed him down the stairs and broke the man's neck because he was goin' too slow?"

"Yeah."

"Well, aiight then."

"You aren't repulsed?"

"They's just dreams, boo. It ain't like yo're really gonna go out and kill da man for walkin' and takin' his sweet time. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"Really?"

"Hell yeah."

Max seemed to really ponder OC's words. _I guess she's right. These are just dreams. They aren't doing anyone any real harm. And I'm not going to be killing him anytime soon._ As she thought back to how disturbing it had been to have Logan ogling her in her bedroom this morning, _Although, if he pulls any more of that crap, I may just be tempted to put hair removal cream into his hair dye._ She smiled as she thought of the result.

OC smiled back at her, knowing that her words about not worryin' 'bout the dreams had finally reached her girl's ears after days of speakin' 'em. "So, what else?"

"I guess I won't worry about it. If I have any more of these dreams, I won't worry about whether they're some menacing indication of the health of my innerbeing." She gave OC a real smile, even though her attitude made it seem as though she considered her words all mumbo-jumbo. The truth was, she was really, really relieved.

"Well, OC is glad to hear that girl, but that's not exactly what she meant."

"Oh, so what did you-"

"Oh come off it, boo. We both know that everyday your dreams end the same way, and yet for six days now, this has been the hardest part for you to talk about. Why is it that makin' love to yor boy is even harder to admit to than killin' off Logan?"

Max's heart told her that this was a very good question, but she ignored it (as usual when it came to all things Alec). "No, it isn't. I can admit it just fine. And it's much harder to think about killing Logan than it is to think about having sex with Alec."

"Oh, reeeeallly. So, it's much easier to think about making love to Alec, huh?"

"Ugh! That is _so_ not what I meant."

"Well, OC is thinking Freudian slip, but whateva." She waited for a minute to see if Max was going to disagree, but Max was too busy looking around as though she'd just heard something. "So, anyways, you was sayin'?"

"What? Oh, yeah. So, I was sitting at the foot of the stairs, cradling Logan's head in my lap when Alec came in. He'd heard a crash and come to see if I needed help in a fight. I was so touched when I heard that he'd actually been concerned that I gave him a hug. And then I collapsed- the grief of losing Logan, you know? So, he picked me up like I weighed no more than a kitten, and carried me up the stairs. It kind of reminded me of this one scene in a movie I once saw, "Lost With the Wind," or something. Had a sort of bad, ambiguous ending, but I liked most of it."

"Huh, now that is a revelation in itself, but go on."

"Yeah, well, when he went to put me down, I wouldn't let him. Instead, I just held on tighter, even though I was completely unconscious. He wanted to make sure I got some rest, considering my loss and all, so he put me in my bed and when I wouldn't let go of him, he climbed in with me."

"And?"

"And nothing. He just held me like that for, like, half a day."

"_You_ slept for _twelve_ hours," OC's disbelief was apparent in her voice.

"Yeah, well, it was a dream. Plus, I've never tried sleeping that comfortably before. Worked wonders. I think that was the first time I ever slept like a rock. I felt like I could have stayed asleep like that forever. Well, until later that night anyway." Max's smile was apparent in her voice.

"Oh, yeah? And just what happened that night that changed yor mind?" OC's smile matched Max's.

"Well, I finally woke up and found an even more comfortable… position, shall we say?" the light in her voice resonated in her eyes.

"And just what position was that?"

"I'll let you use your imagination. Considering that it was Alec who I was lying next to. After all, what have all the other dreams this week ended with Alec and me doing?"

"Alright, Girl. Just answer me one question." At Max's go-ahead nod, "How many times did you do the down-and-dirty with hot boy this time?"

"Three. And you know what OC? It's getting better every time." The happiness in her tone was now matched by the glorious smile spread across her face. As Max turned around and left her locker, she didn't have to turn around to see the answering smile on OC's lips. However, she should have, perhaps, turned around to see the unnaturally handsome man standing on the other side of the lockers. Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say leaning against them as though for support.

* * *

As Max was most definitely not up to dealing with Logan, and she felt the need to get out of the apartment and do some socializing, she agreed to meet OC at Crash that night. While she gussied herself up, she found herself in a most agreeable mood. Looking in the mirror, she imagined a pair of hazel-green eyes reflected behind her and smiled wondering what he would think of her appearance if he were to see it. Quickly, she attempted to change her thoughts- no matter how much her dreams were helping her attitude, it would not do for her to allow them to actually change the reality of their relationship. He was still Alec- the man who had cost her a chance at a real relationship with Logan, the man who played every girl within a fifteen mile radius, the man who showed up at every turn just to ruin her every plan, the man who had the softest lips she'd ever encountered. _Ugh,_ as she realized what she'd thought, she felt her eyes roll. She needed to nip this in the bud. Still, as she continued her preparations, she couldn't help humming to herself. And it sounded very much like the song that had been stuck in her head since the previous morning.

* * *

A few streets down, another person was humming to himself, and this song was no more appropriate than hers. In the middle of a bar full of drunks and hotties many of whom were interested in gaining his attention, a striking young man with extremely soft lips was humming a soft tune to himself. He didn't even notice as girl after girl came up beside him to order drinks. Nor was he aware that he was humming a romantic melody as he nursed his scotch while contemplating the details of his day. He didn't even realize that the smile that was currently gently playing along those soft lips of his was extremely uncharacteristic for him. But another person in the bar did.

"Hey, boo," she said as she sidled up on the chair next to him, using a single-handed gesture to effectively dismiss the next girl to try to get his attention. "Boo? Hello, Alec?"

"Huh? What?" her voice had finally gotten through his haze.

"Well, I was gonna ask how you was doin', but I can see plain as plain that somethin' has got your mind elsewhere."

As he looked down at her, his smile grew. "Yeah, I suppose you might say that." He couldn't help thinking of a conversation he'd heard earlier that day as he looked down into the midnight princess' eyes. A conversation that he'd only heard the last bit of. A piece that had started, "We both know that everyday your dreams end the same way…" And from that beginning, he had stood mesmerized as the most fascinating woman he had ever met admitted that she had been dreaming about him for days. When he had realized that he was the "yor boy" that OC was referring to Max having dream sex with, he'd been shocked. He'd actually fallen over and been very grateful for the lockers he'd been standing next to. And for the fact that the two women were so involved in their conversation that they didn't seem to hear his quiet crash. As he continued listening, he'd been amazed to hear how the dream him had taken care of his Maxie and how she'd let him, most especially how she'd responded to his mere presence. _If only Dream Maxie and Real Life Maxie had anything in common_. (He felt a little like he was naming Barbies when he referred to her like that, but somehow it seemed appropriate.) And even though it had only been her dream, he hadn't been able to help the swell of male pride as he'd heard the smile in her voice as she'd said how many times they'd made love and that it was improving with quantity.

The only real problem he'd had was the term "making love" that OC had insisted on using instead of the "having sex" terminology that Max had used. He'd thought of having sex with Maxie plenty of times. After all, he was only human. Well, okay, so maybe that wasn't all he was. The point was, with her body and his DNA, it was only natural for him to consider it. But, he'd never gone for it, and it hadn't just been because of how she treated him. She was one of two women in his life who he'd ever wondered if he could just boff and dive. Something told him that if he were to ever be with her in that way, it would be permanent. And he just wasn't convinced that he was ready for that- more to the point, he knew he wasn't ready for the rejection he was sure he'd receive if he ever tried to move in that direction. Or at least, until this morning, he'd been sure of receiving. Now, he wasn't so sure, and the possibility had somehow affected him to the point where he wasn't even aware of the other females in the room and he was desperately hoping that Max, his Maxie, might, just might, stop by tonight. When OC had shown up acting like she was waiting for someone, he'd felt his heart jump and his mood had been getting better ever since.

"So, OC, my lovely lady, where is your roommate this fine evening?"

"Say what? Boo, did somebody hit you harder than normal today? 'Cause that did not sound like you at all."

Alec couldn't help but smile. He wasn't really feeling like himself today. He wondered how much of it was because of the conversation he'd heard, and how likely it was that it had to do with the strange smile the new bartender had given him when he'd ordered his drinks. _Oh well. I might as well enjoy my good mood either way. And if I get in a jam, then I'm sure Maxie'll come to the rescue. At least then she'll have to stop avoiding me._ And just like that some of his good mood disappeared.

"Where's Max? I haven't seen her in, like, a week."

"It ain't been that long."

"Well, why don't you tell me how long it's been then? 'Cause it seems to me that she's been avoiding me for several days now. And even before that, she was acting kind of strange."

OC noticed that there seemed to be a new look in Alec's eyes- almost a knowing look. But that was impossible, right? "I don't know what you be talkin' 'bout. Original Cindy knows her girl, and there ain't no way she's gonna be scared off by some fast-talkin', tail-chasin', smooth boy like yo'self. Seems to me you just be imaginin' things."

Alec was not willing to accept this- whether it was because it didn't fit in with what he'd witnessed or because he didn't want to go back to believing that Max didn't consider him important or because he didn't want to be considered the screwed-up, macho, thinking-with-his-testosterone jerk that she was painting, he refused to determine. He just knew that he didn't want her to be right. "Really. So, let's see, for the past six days, she's said a total of what 3 sentences to me, if that. And normally, I can't get her to shut up. And I haven't even seen her for more than 20 minutes all put together, even though we both work at the same place. And she hasn't been able to meet my eyes for more than 10 seconds. And yesterday, she even went to such extremes as to say she needed to take the day off as soon as I got back from a run. Yeah, that sounds like someone who isn't avoiding someone else-"

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. She ain't avoidin' what she ain't got no reason to avoid. Maybe you should get yo' eyes examined. Seems to me that maybe you been spendin' too much time lookin' at the hotties and got your senses all switched around."

He blatantly ignored her interruption. "In fact, the day before yesterday, I could have sworn I saw Max actually pushing herself into a locker just in order to avoid me," he said as he turned around just in time to see curly brown hair whipping around a corner away from him. He rolled his eyes and turned back to her. With sarcasm dripping from his voice, he mocked, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I am just imagining things." Looking into OC's surprised eyes he realized that she'd seen the same thing. "Maybe we both are." Good mood ruined, he turned his attentions back to getting as plastered as his genetics would let him.

* * *

One more thing- I'm going out of town, so I don't know when I'm going to be able to get on a computer. But I am not abandoning this fic. Just as soon as I can, I will be updating.


	7. Urban Legend

Title: 50 Ways to Kill an Ordinary

Author: Dark Roswellian Angel

Elizabeth McDowell

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did, I think I'd be out playing with Jensen instead of sitting on my bed typing this and just dreaming of him. (sigh…)

Copying/Downloading/Posting: Please let me know first, and let me know where my work will be posted as I would love to come visit it. Make sure that it is put under my name, as I would love to hear how others feel about it. Thanks ;)

Rating: T for now, may increase to M later.

Synopsis: Max starts having some seriously disturbing dreams- only does she really find them that disturbing? How do they affect her feelings for the men in her life?

A/N: In case the title and disclaimer didn't make it obvious, don't expect this to be too nice to Logan :) But please keep in mind that this is meant to be just for fun. After all, they're only dreams, right??

2nd A/N: Thank you everybody for all of the reviews. Thanks especially to Beige Flicka, darkaznangel452, p3karen, vancity angel, evil vixen sue, Myth87, purplebunnywabbit, Willow-98, 452max, src13, milkyway22, and Erkith for reviewing my last chapter. Is it dorky that I'm actually starting to get a feel for some of my repeat reviewers- love you guys.

3rd A/N: A special thanks goes to vancity angel for giving me the idea for this chapter's murder weapon. I had already planned on offing him a different way, but when you suggested this, it was just way too funny to pass up. So, thanks for the great idea.

And on that note, sorry it's taken me so long to get this out. What can I say- vacations are great, especially when they get you out of 100+ degree temps. IOW- it's probably going to take me a little while to get the next chapter out, too, since, like I said, vacations are great.

* * *

7- Urban Legend

The first thing OC noticed that morning was how quiet things were. A little too quiet, if you asked her. Especially with how her mornings had been so far this week. She found her best friend sitting at the kitchen counter, eating her spam-flavored, fruity O's as though there was nothing out of the ordinary. Immediately, OC's good mood deflated. Granted, it had only been six days, but she hadn't been able to help wondering what flava her girl'd hit her with this mornin'. "Good mornin', Boo. And how is you and all yor dreams this mornin'?"

Max didn't look up as a confused expression overtook her pretty features, "Confusing."

OC did a double-take, "Come again?"

"Confusing," Max said as though it should explain everything.

OC's eyes narrowed and her head slanted to one side, "And just why is that, Boo?"

Max looked straight at her for the first time that morning. "I blame you."

And with that, OC's eyes opened wide and her head recoiled, "And just why is that, Boo?"

"Well, you're the one that convinced me that these dreams aren't anything to get all worried about."

"Yeah, and I stand by that."

"Yeah… so it's your fault."

"How 'bout we try startin' this at the beginnin' and you tell me just what OC's done."

"Well, I had another dream, but…"

"But what?"

"But I don't know how he died. Or whose fault it was."

"You don't know… Okay, well, honey, why don't you just lay it all out for me, and we'll pick up the pieces as we go down."

Max looked at her and nodded unconvincingly. "Okay. Well, it started out with me completing an Eyes Only mission- some jewels had been stolen and I got them back. It was a really big deal. The theft had been in all the papers, and there were all these big rewards for their return posted everywhere. And I had to go through two mine fields, 34 heavily-armed guards, and a room full of booby traps to get them back. I got pretty messed up doing it, too."

"Wow. So, whose jewels were they? Some princess of somewheres?"

Max half-smiled/ half-grimaced, "You know that commercial with that ritzy woman who we've been wondering how on earth they got her to advertise gourmet cat food?"

"Yeah."

"They belong to her cat." Max looked at her to gauge her reaction.

"Oh." OC tried unsuccessfully to give Max the supportive smile that she attempted.

"Yeah, so anyway… Logan was going to personally present the cat with the recovered jewels in a press conference and ask the woman to give money to one of his favorite charities- Dolphins, Doughnuts, and Dung Beetles. He was all excited about the whole deal, and when I got back he wanted to celebrate."

"Okay, not seeing _too_ many problems so far."

"Well, he didn't want to celebrate my surviving, or barely surviving, the mission. He wanted to celebrate his publicity. And he went into his kitchen and opened up this bottle of champagne that he's been holding onto for, like, forever."

"Okay, so he's self-serving and self-centered- still not seeing the big revelation here, shugg."

"He's known that I've wanted to have that bottle for as long as I've known about it. I've wanted to use it to celebrate other missions, especially ones where I got all messed up. I wanted to use it to celebrate our one-year anniversary. Or me finding my family. Or to take the edge off of Lydecker disappearing. Or it would have been nice if he'd used it to celebrate the fact that I wasn't actually dead- you know, back when I came back from Manticore. But he's always used these inferior bottles to celebrate with. He's always said that he's holding on to that bottle for a more important occasion- more important than anything that had to do with my success or us being together. And finally he decides to use it when he's celebrating the fact that he gets to be in the news for giving jewelry to a cat."

OC's eyebrows rose, "Well, yeah, I guess that's a little harsh."

Max pursed her lips, "Well, I thought so. So I poisoned him."

OC choked on her cherry-chocolate and caramel-banana breakfast shake, "You what?"

"I didn't mean to kill him. I just meant to make him sick- I'm not even sure that it killed him."

"Huh? Since when don't poison kill a man?"

"Well, he said that he'd heard of this old wives' remedy for feeling ill- he didn't realized that he'd been poisoned- and he went into his bedroom and locked the door while he used his 'cure'. I waited for a little while, and when he didn't come out, I went in and found him on the floor dying."

"What remedy did he use?"

"That's the really strange part. I'd heard that this combination does have an effect, but it's not a good one. Why on earth would he use it?"

"Shugga, what is it?"

"Soda and pop rocks."

OC's eyes got round, "He didn't."

"He so did."

"Nuh-unh."

"Uh-huh."

"Yor jerkin' my chain."

"I so am not."

"Damn."

"Yeah. And if he had just told me when I'd asked, I could have stopped him. But it's like he didn't trust me or something. I just don't get it."

"Not to point out the obvious, Boo, but you had just poisoned the man."

"Yeah, I guess. Still though."

"So the reason you're confused on who's to blame for his death is because you don't know if it was you poisonin' the man or what he did to hisself."

"Yeah, and no." When OC gave her the look, she continued. "Well, it might be Alec's fault."

"Alec?"

"Yeah. Turns out he was the one that told Logan that pop rocks and soda make a good cure for what was ailin' him."

OC couldn't help but smile, "Did he now."

"Yeah."

"And just why would hot boy tell him somethin' like that?"

"Well, somehow he knew I was going to poison Logan, and he didn't want me to feel too guilty."

"Really," OC couldn't be sure, but it felt as though there might be another reason.

Max smiled slightly, "Yeah, and there's the slightest of possibilities that he was a little jealous of me and Logan and wanted to free me up at the same time as he was helping me out."

OC couldn't help the smile that came beaming out of her. "Ni-ice."

"Yeah. But then he realized that he couldn't stand the idea of Logan dying- because he knew that it would hurt me. So he came bursting in through the door just a few seconds before Logan died- he was going to tell Logan the truth about what happens when you combine the two. When he saw what was going on, he tried to help, but there was nothing he could do," Max looked up at OC, "You know, soda, pop rocks, and jealousy make for the nastiest expression. I would've told Logan to knock it off his face before it stuck there, but well… what was the point?"

"So, did Alec help you deal with your loss?"

Max's smile became gentle. "You know, Dream Alec has this amazing ability to tell me exactly what I need to hear so that I can feel better- even when I don't know what I need him to say. He just comes out with it like it's natural for him to understand my needs better than I do. Not to mention how he knows exactly what to do to make my whole body feel better. Talk about meeting needs."

"Is my ears lyin' to me, or did they just hear yous sayin' somethin' nice about yor boy?"

Max simply bobbed her head over her shoulders- a little attitude, a little happiness, a little cockiness, and a lot of satisfaction all wrapped up into one movement. "Maybe."

OC looked at her hard, "Boo, you don't think all these dreams is tryin' to speak yor mind for ya', do yas?"

Max wrinkled her nose. "No…." she seemed to think about it. "No way. I mean, Logan is still my boyfriend, and Alec is… well, Alec is Alec. He doesn't think about me that way- he doesn't think about _any_ girl _that _way. And you know I wouldn't be willing to hook up with any guy who'd just try to turn me into one of his notches."

OC pursed her lips. "Mm-hmm."

* * *

_Three hours later-_

_Whack!_

"Ouch!"

"Why you two-timing-" _Whack!_

"Ouch!"

"What the hell are you doin'?? You three-timin', no-good dog!" _Whack!_

"Ouch! Man, since when do you all know how to hit so hard??" The handsome man backed away with one hand up in surrender and the other hand to his reddening cheek. He looked at the three women in alarm as they began walking towards him, then cocked his head as though he'd just heard something, "What was that Normal? Package?" He looked back at the advancing women with false regret in his eyes, "You know, I'd love to stay and get this all taken care of, but… duty calls," and with that, he turned around and hightailed it out of the locker area.

* * *

_Two hours later…_

"Just what the hell is you doin' in Max's locker?" OC demanded as she came around the corner and caught the handsome sandy-haired man closing her boo's locker door. She almost laughed as he immediately swung around and put his hand to his face. "Boy, you's startin' to look like you got some weird kind o' sunburn. What you been doin' all day?"

"Nothing," he said as he lowered his other hand from the surrender position.

"Yeah, whatever you say, pretty boy. But whatever you been doin', I suggest you stop 'cause you sure ain't lookin' as nice as yor usual self when you all discolored on one side o' yor face."

"Well, it's not my fault upset women tend to be right-handed."

"What does that havta do with- Wait, you sayin' yor all red on one side from women slappin' you?" she tried to keep from laughing. "And just what you been doin' to rile up all those lickity-chicks?"

"Kissing them."

"Boy, that just don't sound right. What- you forgot how to pleasure them, or somethin'?"

"No. They don't mind me kissing them so much as when I turn around and kiss the next girl too. That's what seems to be upsetting them."

"Well, go figure. Man, you's usually way smoother than dat. What is goin' on wit ya?"

"I'm… comparing."

"Comparing what? Who's got the stronger right hook?"

He moved his jaw around as though making sure it still worked right. "Yeah, something like that."

"Hmm," OC's mind went back to the task at hand. "So, just what was you puttin' into Max's locker? 'Cause if you somehow come down with a need to get hit, I'm worryin' you goin' too far by puttin' somethin' in there to piss her off. 'Cause we both know that she's more likely to rip yor pretty little head off rather than just slappin' ya."

Alec smirked a little, but it seemed more like he was ridiculing himself than that he was finding real humor in her words, "Yeah, that's kind of the problem."

OC looked up at him and cocked her head. He almost seemed depressed, and it was starting to worry her. "Boo, what are you talkin' 'bout? What is da problem?"

Alec looked down at her and just stared for a minute. Then he said sadly, "OC, do you know how long it's been since Max has been within a foot of me?"

OC stilled and her eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"It's been a week. A week where she hasn't even come near me. A week where she hasn't told me off, or called me a name, or threatened me, or-"

"Or hit you upside the head. Oh. My. Freakin'. Heck. You have got to be kiddin' me."

Alec shook his head, "I wish I was."

"Is you honestly tellin' me that you're havin' withdrawals from gettin' hit by our girl?" OC moved towards him, looking straight into his eyes, as though she could read the truth of his answer in them.

Alec looked towards the heavens and shook his head as though he couldn't believe it himself.

OC's heart was warmed. _Leave it to Manticore to screw a guy up to the point where he craves abusive treatment. _"So, just what does that have to do with you kissin' all the pretties around here?"

He just looked at her.

"Holy crap. You really is comparin', ain't you. You're pissin' 'em off on purpose just ta see if you can find a girl whose punch satisfies yor yearnin's. Honey, you ever considered findin' a psychologist for all yor issues?"

"Actually, I found one when I was running a package through Sector 8. One of the only lefthooks I've come across."

OC almost chuckled. "Boo, this just ain't healthy."

Alec gritted his teeth, "You think I don't know that Cindy? Do you honestly believe that I'm looking for my next abuser? Why do you think it is that none of the other righthooks I've found have satisfied me?"

"Cause none o' dem can hit as hard as Max?"

He glowered down at her, and she actually moved a little bit away from him. "No. I don't want to get hit. I don't like getting manhandled. I just…" his voice got small and he sighed, as his frame seemed to sink in on itself. After a second, he looked at her more gently, "I miss her, Cindy. I never realized all those times I left and came back- it was because I missed her. Even if all I get is abuse from her, even if the only physical contact I ever get from her is her punching me or kicking me, I miss feeling her touching me. And yeah, I've been trying to find another girl who can make me feel like that. I started out just kissing them- 'cause I figured that physical affection would have to be better than what I get from her. But it wasn't. So I figured that maybe the same kind of treatment would create the same kind of feeling. But I can't seem to find a girl who can-"

"Hit you right? Be her equal?" OC could barely believe her senses when he nodded his head. She never would have believed it if she hadn't seen it herself- was there an actual possibility that hot boy, jumpin-from-one-girl-to-the-other, never-gonna-settle, tom-cat Alec was falling in love? And with her boo, no less?

"I don't know what to do, Cind. I don't know why I'm acting like this. All I know is that every day that I go without hearing her voice or seeing her look at me is hurting more and more. Is it even possible to become addicted to a person who doesn't even care that you're alive?"

He sounded so lost that she could actually feel tears coming to her eyes. _Damn, those Manticore bastards is bound for a special place in hell for what they done to all of 'em. They so screwed in the head when it comes to their own emotions, they don't know which way's up. _"Yeah, shugg. It is."

"So, how do I stop it? What do I do? What's wrong with me?"

She slowly walked up and pulled him to her. "Honey, there ain't nothin' I can tell you. You gotta figure this b-tch out on yor own 'cause you ain't never gonna believe me if I try an' tell ya. And then, when you do, you come to me," she pulled back to look into his eyes. "And I swear I'll help you figure it out from there. You got Original Cindy's word on that, aiight?"

Alec smiled a little in response- grateful to have a friend in his corner, even though he still wasn't sure what was going on. As they walked away from the lockers, he kept his arm around her shoulders. His smile grew as she asked, "So, what was it what you put in her locker den?"

* * *

Max ignored her pager for the twentieth time that night. There was just no way she was up to anything more than hanging out with OC and Sketchy, drinking beer, and people watching tonight. She refused to allow herself to be pulled into any Eyes Only drama as long as she could help it. She looked up in surprise as the bartender placed a bottle in front of her. "What's this?"

"Champagne. House's best."

She made a little choking noise and looked at OC wondering if the girl was teasing her. But OC looked as dumbfounded as she felt. "We didn't order this."

"That's okay. The guy over there did."

With a start, Max looked over and was immediately caught in warm hazel eyes. She barely heard the bartender explain, "He said that it's to celebrate making it through the week." It took her a few seconds to finally nod her appreciation and break the gaze. Thoroughly aware of the eyes watching her, she carefully poured herself a glass and drank it. She was surprised- it was the best glass of champagne she'd ever had. She looked back over and felt herself being drowned by the emotion that she couldn't quite define in those dark orbs. It took her companions clapping her on the back and snapping their fingers in front of her face for her to finally bring her attention back to them. "Sorry, what?"

"I was just askin' what your plans was for tonight, boo."

"Yeah, and I just said that Natalie called me from Florida last night- we wound up talking for, like, two hours. She said she might be coming out to visit next month," Sketchy's voice didn't usually sound this excited.

"That's really good, Sketchy," Max said vacantly as her eyes started traveling back to the end of the bar. But when she saw a buxom blonde moving that direction, she slammed her eyes back to her companions with an irritated expression.

OC was looking on with amusement. She wished Max had continued watching- the disappointed look on the blonde's face as she was quickly turned away was absolutely edible. In fact, OC was wondering if there was any way she could go over and help the woman turn her frown upside-down. "So, what are your plans, boo?"

Max tried to downplay her frown. "Oh, I don't know. I'm thinkin' about heading home, actually."

Sketchy and OC looked at each other, concerned expressions flashing across their faces. This did not sound like their Max. "Did I do something wrong?" came out at the same time as "Somethin' wrong, boo?"

Max gained a mysterious expression. "Not exactly." A full-blown smile came over her face as she explained, "Somebody left a little present for me in my locker today."

"Oh yeah?" OC tried to make her voice innocently curious- she only managed honestly curious, but thankfully Max was too excited to notice.

"Yeah. My own copy of a movie called, "Gone with the Wind." Have you guys ever seen it?" she waited for them to both shake their heads. "Well, from what I've heard it's a classic."

"Niiice."

"So, any ideas who gave it to you, hon?"

Max shook her head, but her smile never dimmed. "No idea. All it said on the note was that I should pay special attention to the stairs scene."

As she said that, OC's eyes flew across the bar. She chuckled when she received a wink and watched in enjoyment as Max stood up to go enjoy her night, not knowing that her dreams were beginning to come true.


End file.
